Agnieszka Radwańska
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Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. She won 20 career singles
WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...
titles, two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 on 9 July 2012. Her achievements include winning the season-ending 2015 WTA Finals, the
Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenni ...
(WTA) Fan Favourite Award six times, Shot of the Year five times, and Shot of the Month on a regular basis. Radwańska holds a number of tennis accolades. She is the first Polish player in the
Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
to reach a
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
singles final (at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships), the first to win the
WTA Finals The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the WTA ...
(in 2015), the first to claim a WTA Tour singles title (the 2007 Nordic Light Open), and was part of the first Polish team to win the
Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...
in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
. In addition, she won the WTA award for Most Impressive Newcomer in 2006, and finished with a top 10 year-end ranking eight times (including six consecutive times from 2011 to 2016). Radwańska is widely considered one of the best tennis players to have never won a major; her accomplishments among Polish players have only recently been surpassed by those of
Iga Świątek Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 202 ...
. Radwańska was voted the WTA's Fan Favorite Singles Player for six consecutive years (2011–2016), the most of any player, in polls held by ''WTATennis.com''. Radwańska also won WTA's Fan Favorite Shot of the Year for five consecutive years (2013–2017). 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
Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercised ...
. On 14 November 2018, Radwańska announced her retirement from professional tennis at the age of 29.


Personal life

Born in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
to Robert Radwański, and his wife, Marta, Radwańska began playing tennis at the age of four after her father introduced her to the sport. Her younger sister,
Urszula Urszula may refer to: *Franciszka Urszula Radziwiłłowa (1705–1753), Polish-Lithuania-Belarusian noble dramatist and writer *Urszula Augustyn (born 1964), Polish politician *Urszula Dudziak (born 1943), Polish jazz vocalist *Urszula Gacek (born ...
, is also a tennis player. Radwańska named
Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...
and
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
as inspirations. In 2009, Radwańska became a WTA ambassador for
Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...
. She has also studied tourism at universities in Kraków. Radwańska is a practising
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, and she took part in the Catholic campaign in her native country "" ("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 nude for ''
ESPN magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year i ...
s
The Body Issue ''The Body Issue'' is an edition of '' ESPN The Magazine'' that features dozens of athletes in nude and semi-nude photographs, which is intended to rival the annual Swimsuit Issue from ''Sports Illustrated''. The first issue debuted on October 19 ...
. According to ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' in 2012 she was the ninth highest-earning female athlete in the world. In 2016, Radwańska got engaged to Dawid Celt, a former Polish tennis player, also her hitting partner, and current coach of Top 50 player
Magda Linette Magda Linette (born 12 February 1992) is a Polish professional tennis player. Having made her tour debut in 2009, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in February 2020. Linette has reached five finals on the WTA Tour, winning ...
. Their engagement was accidentally revealed by her friend,
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...
, on 7 September 2016. On 22 July 2017, they married surrounded by family, friends and her WTA and ATP peers. In attendance were Aga's younger sister Urszula, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, former Polish No. 1
Marta Domachowska Marta Domachowska (; born 16 January 1986) is a former tennis player from Poland. She was ranked world No. 37 in singles (2006) and No. 62 in doubles (2006), and reached 2008 Australian Open fourth round in singles and won 2006 Canberra Interna ...
,
Alicja Rosolska Alicja Rosolska (; born 1 December 1985) is a professional tennis player from Poland. On 9 June 2003, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 636. On 10 June 2019, she peaked at No. 23 in the doubles rankings. Rosolska has won nine ...
,
Katarzyna Piter Katarzyna Piter (; born 16 February 1991) is a Polish professional tennis player. In the spring of 2014, she reached her career-high rankings, No. 95 in singles and 67 (new high in July 2022: No. 66) in doubles. She has won eight singles and 25 ...
, Wimbledon doubles Champion
Łukasz Kubot Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a Polish professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the 2017 W ...
,
Mariusz Fyrstenberg Mariusz Stanisław Fyrstenberg (born 8 July 1980) is a retired left-handed Polish tennis player who was a doubles specialist. Fyrstenberg primarily partnered Marcin Matkowski. The pair won the Madrid Open twice, in addition to reaching the fina ...
,
Marcin Matkowski Marcin Matkowski (; born 15 January 1981) is a Polish former professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. He played college tennis at UCLA, where Jean-Julien Rojer was one of his teammates. Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg won t ...
and also former Wimbledon semifinalist
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
. The wedding ceremony took place at the Church of St Michael the Archangel and St Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr, Pauline Fathers Monastery,
Skałka Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Stanislaus the Bishop and Martyr Basilica, also known as Skałka, which means "a small rock" in Polish, is a small outcrop in Kraków atop of which a Pauline monastery is located, a place where the Bish ...
, in Krakow, Poland, where Radwańska was baptized. In March 2019, Radwańska partnered with Italian professional dancer Stefano Terrazzino to participate in the next edition of
Dancing with the Stars: Taniec z gwiazdami ''Dancing with the Stars: Taniec z gwiazdami'' (previously: ''Taniec z gwiazdami'' ) is a Polish light entertainment reality television series broadcast by Polsat. It is the Polish version of the United Kingdom's popular '' Dancing with the Star ...
. It is the Polish version of the BBC's popular Dancing with the Stars/Strictly Come Dancing franchise, which has been sold to more than 40 countries worldwide. Aga donated her prize money from ''
Taniec z Gwiazdami (season 22) The 22nd season of ''Taniec z gwiazdami'', the Polish edition of ''Dancing with the Stars'', started on 1 March 2019. This is the ninth season aired on Polsat. Paulina Sykut-Jeżyna and Krzysztof Ibisz returned as host and Iwona Pavlović, Ola ...
'' to
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
charity. In January 2020, Radwańska announced that she was pregnant with her first child. Shortly after celebrating her third wedding anniversary, Radwanska had her first child, a son.


Career


2005–2006: Junior years

Radwańska won the junior singles title at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
in 2005, defeating
Tamira Paszek Tamira Shelah Paszek (born 6 December 1990) is an Austrian tennis player. Paszek has won three singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She realized her greatest success so far ...
. She went on to win the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
junior title in 2006 with a victory over
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (russian: Анастаси́я "Настя" Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова; born 3 July 1991) is an inactive Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won ...
. She played her first WTA tournament at the 2006 J&S Cup (later known as the
Warsaw Open The Warsaw Open, formerly the J&S Cup, was a women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Warsaw, Poland. Held since 1995, the tournament was played on outdoor clay courts. The event returned for two years to the WTA Tour in 2009 after a ...
), defeating
Anastasia Myskina Anastasia Andreyevna Myskina ( rus, Анастасия Андреевна Мыскина ; born 8 July 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Myskina won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian woman to wi ...
in her opening match. She advanced to the quarterfinals, where she lost to
Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
in three sets. At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, she lost in the fourth round to
Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...
. She went on to drop a second-round match to
Tatiana Golovin Tatiana Golovin ( rus, Татья́на Григóрьевна Головина́, r=Tatyana Grigoryevna Golovina; born 25 January 1988) is a Russian-born French professional tennis player. She won the 2004 French Open mixed-doubles event, partner ...
at the US Open. At the Fortis Championships Luxembourg tournament, Radwańska lost in the semifinals to
Francesca Schiavone Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1998 and won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She wa ...
after defeating former world No. 1,
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
, in the second round, and Dementieva in the quarterfinals.


Junior Grand Slam finals


Singles: 2 (2 titles)


Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)


2007–2008: First WTA title and breakthrough

Radwańska participated at the 2007 Australian Open, where she lost to Ana Ivanovic in the second round. At the
Sony Ericsson Open The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, Radwańska defeated her longtime idol,
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
, in a three-set third-round match. She exited in the fourth round following a loss to
Tathiana Garbin Tathiana Garbin (; born 30 June 1977) is an Italian retired tennis player. She was best known for her surprise defeat of the defending champion and the reigning world No. 1, Justine Henin, in the second round of the 2004 French Open. The winne ...
. In August 2007, Radwańska became the first Polish player to claim a WTA tour singles title, defeating
Vera Dushevina Vera Yevgenyevna Dushevina ( rus, Вера Евгеньевна Душевина; born 6 October 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won one singles title and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour. As a junior, she won the ...
in the final of the
Nordic Light Open The Nordic Light Open (sponsored by Nordea) was a women's tennis tournament held in Stockholm, Sweden (in 2002 and 2003 the tournament was played in Espoo, Finland on clay courts). Held from 2002 to 2008, this Women's Tennis Association, WTA Tour ...
. She went on to defeat defending champion
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 ...
in the third round of the US Open, before losing to Israeli
Shahar Pe'er Shahar Pe'er ( he, שחר פאר, ; born ) is an Israeli retired tennis player. Pe'er won five singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career. She reached ...
in the fourth round. She reached the quarterfinals of the 2008 Australian Open, upsetting world No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round,Second seed Kuznetsova upset – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Abc.net.au (19 January 2008). Retrieved on 10 March 2013.
then following it up with a defeat of 14th seeded
Nadia Petrova Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova (russian: Надежда Викторовна Петрова ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ...
before eventually falling to
Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Mar ...
. At the Thailand Open, Radwańska won her second WTA singles title, beating
Jill Craybas Jill N. Craybas (born July 4, 1974) is an American former professional tennis player. From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws; her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships ...
in the final. At the Qatar Ladies Open, Radwańska reached the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. On
grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
, Radwańska won the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne International is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as a WTA 500 series on the WTA Tour and an ATP Tour 2 ...
, defeating Nadia Petrova in the final. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, she defeated Kuznetsova in the fourth round, then lost to
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
in the quarterfinals. At the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
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 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 in career prize money, as well as the first to be ranked world No. 10.


2009–2010: Top 10

Radwańska reached the quarterfinals of the Sydney International, losing in three sets to eventual champion Elena Dementieva. She was defeated in the first round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
by
Kateryna Bondarenko Kateryna Volodymyrivna Volodko (née Bondarenko; uk, Катерина Володимирівна Бондаренко; born 8 August 1986) is a tennis player from Ukraine. She was the doubles champion in 2008 at the Australian Open, partnering ...
. She reached her first semifinal of the 2009 season in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, where she fell in three sets to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. She reached her first final of the year in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, losing in straight sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Radwańska and her doubles partner
Maria Kirilenko Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, p=mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲɛnkə ; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champion at the 2002 US Open a ...
reached the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open, losing to the world No. 1 pairing of
Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF doubles titles. A former doubles world No. 1, she won ten major titles. By ...
and
Liezel Huber Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African-American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Blac ...
in three sets. In Indian Wells, Radwańska won her fifth straight match against
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She als ...
, and went on to upset Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals before losing to
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...
in the semifinals. Radwańska entered the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was defeated in the quarterfinals by Venus Williams. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, she was defeated in the fourth round by
Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...
, whom she had beaten at the same stage the previous year. Radwańska reached the final of the
Southern California Open The Southern California Open currently known as The San Diego Open is an ATP 250 and WTA 500 tournament held at the Barnes Tennis Centre in San Diego, California. The event originated as the Southern California Championships that ran from 1887 ...
in San Diego, 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 Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wim ...
.


2011: Asian double in Tokyo and Beijing

Radwańska reached the quarterfinals of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, losing to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. She went on to reach the fourth round in Indian Wells, where she lost to
Victoria Azarenka Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former w ...
, and the quarterfinals in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, losing to
Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...
. However, she won the Miami doubles title with Daniela Hantuchová, defeating Nadia Petrova and
Liezel Huber Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African-American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Blac ...
. She went on to reach the fourth round of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, losing to Maria Sharapova. Radwańska suffered her earliest ever exit at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, when she was defeated in the second round by Czech qualifier
Petra Cetkovská Petra Cetkovská (; born 8 February 1985) is a retired Czech tennis player. Having turned professional in 2000, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25, on 18 June 2012. Over her career, Cetkovská defeated top-ten players Mar ...
. At the San Jose 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
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
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 Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...
. 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 China Open, she defeated
Zheng Jie Zheng Jie (born 5 July 1983) is a retired tennis player from China. In May 2009, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15. Zheng is one of the most successful tennis players from China. She won four WTA singles titles – Ho ...
,
Sofia Arvidsson Lena Sofia Alexandra Arvidsson (born 16 February 1984) is a Swedish professional padel player and a former tennis player. In her tennis career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 20 singles and 13 double ...
, Ana Ivanovic (who retired from their quarterfinal match due to a back injury), and
Flavia Pennetta Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011. ...
in straight sets, before winning a three-set final against
Andrea Petkovic Andrea Petkovic (, ; born 9 September 1987) is a German former professional tennis player. Born in Tuzla, SFR Yugoslavia, to Serbian father Zoran and Bosniak mother Amira, she moved to Germany at six months old and turned professional in 2006 a ...
. She qualified for her first season-ending championship in Istanbul, taking the 8th spot when Marion Bartoli was unable to win the title in Moscow. Going into the 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 Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and ...
, but 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 and Wimbledon 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 to Azarenka at Sydney, the Australian Open, and the Qatar Open, she won her first title of the season at the Dubai 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 Miami 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
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
, where she lost to Azarenka in the semifinals, securing the world No. 3 ranking. At the Italian Open, 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 Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
in straight sets, winning her third WTA title of the year and tenth in her career. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, 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
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
. 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 The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
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 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. 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
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
and the
Cincinnati Open The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
. Radwańska was defeated in the fourth round of the US Open by
Roberta Vinci Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian professional padel and former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she won five major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 in ...
. 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 The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the WTA ...
, 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 Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...
, 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: Three WTA titles

Radwańska began her season at the Auckland Open, where she defeated
Yanina Wickmayer Yanina Wickmayer (born 20 October 1989) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals at the 2009 US Open, and a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 12, on 19 April 2010. In doubles, she achieved a career-high of world No. ...
in the final to win the 11th singles title of her career. She won her second straight tournament of 2013 at the Sydney International, where she defeated
Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...
without losing a game. Radwańska reached the quarterfinals of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, 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 Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens (; born 10 January 1986) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, winning the 2012 T ...
, Radwańska won a point with a spinning backhand volley, which was voted the shot of the year on the WTA's website. 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 but lost her semifinal match to Sabine Lisicki. She was later awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski. Her next tournament was the Stanford Classic, where she received a bye into the second round and beat Francesca Schiavone for a place in the quarterfinals. She then beat
Varvara Lepchenko Varvara (Cyrillic: Варвара; el, Βαρβάρα, ''Varvára''), a variant of " Barbara", may refer to: Places *Varvara, Azerbaijan * Varvara, Prozor, on the Rama river, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Varvara, Burgas Province, Bulgaria * Varvara ...
, as well as
Jamie Hampton Jamie Lee Hampton (born January 8, 1990) is a former American professional tennis player. In July 2013, she reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 24. Early life Hampton was born in Frankfurt, West Germany, because her father, a career ...
, losing to Dominika Cibulková in the final. In September, Radwańska defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win the
KDB Korea Open The Korea Open is a professional tennis tennis tournament held in Seoul, South Korea. The women's edition started in 2004 as WTA International tournament and was played at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center on outdoor hardcourts. In 2012 and 2 ...
, her third singles title of 2013. She was eliminated from the WTA Championships in the round robin stage, exiting with a loss to Angelique Kerber. At the conclusion of the season, Radwańska was voted WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player for the third consecutive year.


2014: Australian Open semifinal & out of top 5

Radwańska began the 2014 season by representing Poland at the
Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...
, where she competed alongside her compatriot,
Grzegorz Panfil Grzegorz Panfil (; born 1 January 1988) is a Polish professional tennis player. Career highlights Panfils' highlights include his win at the F1 Ukrainian Futures Tournament, and his achievements at the Hopman Cup. Hopman Cup At the 2014 Hopm ...
. The pair advanced to the final where Radwańska defeated
Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circu ...
in their singles match. However, she and Panfil lost to Cornet and
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the deciding mixed doubles match. Following the Hopman Cup, Radwańska failed to defend her title at the Sydney International, losing to
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
in the second round. Radwańska defeated Victoria Azarenka to reach her first
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
semifinal, but lost to Dominika Cibulková. Radwańska also reached the semifinal of the Qatar Total Open in Doha, losing to eventual champion Simona Halep. She avenged her loss Halep in the semifinal of the
Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
, reaching the final for the first time in her career. Partly due to a knee injury, Radwańska was defeated by Flavia Pennetta. She was in tears while apologizing to the crowd afterward, saying she was unable to run. She then advanced to the quarterfinals in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, where she lost in three sets to Dominika Cibulková. In April, Radwańska played in the Katowice Open, about 47 miles from her home town in Krakow. Following victories over
Kristýna Plíšková Kristýna Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is an inactive Czech professional tennis player. Plíšková has won one singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 Ju ...
, Francesca Schiavone, and
Yvonne Meusburger Yvonne Meusburger Garamszegi (née Meusburger, born 3 October 1983) is an Austrian retired tennis player. Meusburger won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as fifteen singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. O ...
, she lost a three-set semifinal to Alizé Cornet. Radwańska, who was playing on the WTA Tour in Poland for the first time in seven years, stated: "I'm really excited. I still have vivid memories of my first ever WTA main draw event at the Premier event in Warsaw in 2006. As a 17-year-old girl, I managed to beat 2004 French Open champion
Anastasia Myskina Anastasia Andreyevna Myskina ( rus, Анастасия Андреевна Мыскина ; born 8 July 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Myskina won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian woman to wi ...
in the first round. I couldn't imagine a better debut. So my tennis career really began in my home country and I'm thankful for this opportunity." She reached the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart and the semifinals of the Madrid Open, losing both matches to Maria Sharapova. At the
Internazionali d'Italia The Italian Open ( it, Internazionali d'Italia; literally: ''Italy's Internationals''), originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournament ...
in Rome, she lost in the quarterfinals to Jelena Janković. Following early exits at the French Open and
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne International is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as a WTA 500 series on the WTA Tour and an ATP Tour 2 ...
, she advanced to the fourth round of Wimbledon, but lost to
Ekaterina Makarova Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova ( rus, Екатери́на Вале́рьевна Мака́рова; ; born 7 June 1988) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and world No. 8 in singles. She ...
. At the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
in Montreal, Radwańska defeated
Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Barbora (; ) is a Czech and Slovak female given name. It was derived from the Greek word ''barbaros'' ( el, βαρβαρος) meaning "foreign", a variant of " Barbara". It is the 36th most popular given name in the Czech Republic (as of 2007). ...
, Sabine Lisicki, Victoria Azarenka and Ekaterina Makarova to reach the final, where she defeated Venus Williams to win her first title of the season and the first Canadian Open of her career. Following her win at Rogers Cup she competed at the Western & Southern Open, where she defeated
Kurumi Nara is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...
and Sabine Lisicki before losing in the quarterfinals to Caroline Wozniacki. At the US Open, Radwańska beat Sharon Finchman in the first round but lost in straight sets to
Peng Shuai Peng Shuai (; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese retired professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked world No. 1 doubles player by the WTA, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking (in either single ...
in the next round. In September, Radwańska played at the Kia Korea Open, where she defeated
Polona Hercog Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also enjoye ...
and
Chanelle Scheepers Chanelle Scheepers ( ; born 13 March 1984) is a retired South African tennis player. She won one singles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 12 singles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 10 Octobe ...
. She then faced Varvara Lepchenko in the quarterfinals but could not avenge her loss to Lepchenko at Stanford earlier, losing in three sets again. Radwańska then lost to
Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion. She is also a two-ti ...
in the second round at
Wuhan Open The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Motor) is a tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its debut in t ...
. In her next tournament at
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, she beat
CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...
before losing to Roberta Vinci in the second round. At the WTA Finals, she was drawn into the White Group alongside Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitová, and Caroline Wozniacki. She defeated Petra Kvitová in her opening round-robin group match but lost close matches to Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki. Despite her 1–2 record, she placed second in her group and advanced to the semifinals, losing to Simona Halep. She ended the year ranked world No. 6. Following the season's conclusion, Radwańska again defeated one of her childhood idols, Martina Hingis, in a one-set match as part of a team event at the Champions Tennis League in India. Hingis then defeated Radwańska in their next meeting at the event. Throughout 2014, Radwańska won the WTA accolade for Shot of the Month on four occasions, won Shot of the Year for an overhead backhand in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, and, for the fourth consecutive season, won the WTA Award for Fan Favorite Player. She expressed gratitude toward fans and called the win an "honor."


2015: WTA Finals champion

At the end of the 2014 season, Radwańska hired Martina Navratilova as part of her coaching team, with the specific goal of winning a Grand Slam title. She started 2015 by teaming with
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
to win the
Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...
, Poland's first title in the event. The victory included Radwańska's first win over Serena Williams in a singles match. Radwańska competed in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, where she defeated Alizé Cornet but lost to
Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. ...
in the second round. She reached the fourth round of
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, where she lost to Venus Williams for the first time since 2010, in three sets. In February, Radwańska played in Dubai and Doha, where she recorded wins over Caroline Garcia and Flavia Pennetta, but lost for the second time in a year to Muguruza and Venus Williams, respectively. She then progressed to Indian Wells where she lost in the third round to
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships partnering Henri K ...
. After that, she competed in the Miami Open, where she lost to
Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a b ...
in the fourth round. In April, Radwańska participated for the second time in her career at Katowice Open in Poland, where she defeated
Yanina Wickmayer Yanina Wickmayer (born 20 October 1989) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals at the 2009 US Open, and a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 12, on 19 April 2010. In doubles, she achieved a career-high of world No. ...
,
An-Sophie Mestach An-Sophie Mestach (born 7 March 1994) is a Belgian retired tennis player. In her career, Mestach won two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles titles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 14 September 2015, she reac ...
,
Klára Koukalová Klára Koukalová (formerly Zakopalová; born 24 February 1982) is a retired Czech tennis player. She was born and still lives in Prague. Having turned professional in 1999, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20, on 15 April ...
before losing to
Camila Giorgi Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26, achieved on 22 October 2018. She is the current Italian No. 2, after Martina Trevisan. After winning her fi ...
in the semifinals. Shortly after Radwańska's first-round loss at Stuttgart Open, Martina Navratilova stated that she was too busy to continue in her part-time role as Radwańska's consulting coach. Radwańska stated, "I just wanted to thank Martina for her time and efforts over these last few months. It was a great experience to work with one of the all-time greats. However, we both agreed that as Martina could not commit 100% to the project then it was not going to work as a long-term partnership." At the
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
, Radwańska defeated
Lara Arruabarrena Lara Arruabarrena Vecino (; born 20 March 1992) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. On 3 July 2017, she reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of 52, and her best doubles ranking is world No. 28, set on 22 February 2016. Arr ...
and
Casey Dellacqua Casey Dellacqua ( ; born 11 February 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player and current commentator. Her best singles results on the WTA Tour have been semifinal appearances at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open and 2014 Birmingham ...
before losing to Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. As a result of this loss, Radwańska dropped outside of the Top 10 for the first time since October 2011. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Radwańska was defeated by
Annika Beck Annika Beck (; born 16 February 1994) is a German former professional tennis player. She started playing tennis at the age of four when introduced to the game by her parents. A baseliner whose favorite shot is forehand, and favorite surface is ...
in the first round. The loss marked only her third first-round loss at a Grand Slam in her career, and her first since the 2009 Australian Open. In June, Radwańska competed in her first grass-court tournament at
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
where she advanced to the semifinals, losing to
Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as high as 28 in singles and 11 in doubles. Niculescu has won several titles: three singles and ten double ...
. In her next grass tournament at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, she defeated
Irina Falconi Irina Falconi ( es, Falconí; born May 4, 1990) is an Ecuadorian-born American former tennis player. She moved to Manhattan, New York, as a toddler. Her highest WTA singles ranking is world No. 63, which she reached in May 2016. Her career-high ...
, Karolína Plíšková, and
Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( bg, Цветана Кирилова Пиронкова ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been not ...
to reach the semifinals of a grass event for the second time in three weeks, after doing so at Nottingham. After defeating
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in t ...
, Radwańska reached her first final of the season against
Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic ( sk, Belinda Benčičová, ; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won six singl ...
, who defeated her in three sets to claim her first WTA title. Radwańska then started her
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
campaign just three days after her final at Eastbourne. During the first week she defeated
Lucie Hradecká Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in ...
,
Ajla Tomljanović Ajla Tomljanović ( ; ; born 7 May 1993) is an Australian professional tennis player. She has won four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 October 2022, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33. On 5 Janu ...
and
Casey Dellacqua Casey Dellacqua ( ; born 11 February 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player and current commentator. Her best singles results on the WTA Tour have been semifinal appearances at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open and 2014 Birmingham ...
, all in straight sets. She then defeated
Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the ...
and
Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's ...
to advance to the semifinals where she faced Garbiñe Muguruza. In her third Wimbledon semifinal in four years, Radwańska ended up losing the match in three sets. After her successful run at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Radwańska returned to the top 10, after she dropped outside in early May this year. Radwańska began her summer hard court season at the
Bank of the West Classic The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is the ol ...
, where she lost a tight three-set match to
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wim ...
in the quarterfinals. As the defending champion at the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
, Radwańska defeated Julia Görges and Alizé Cornet before losing to Simona Halep in the quarterfinal. Due to her first-round loss at the Western & Southern Open, Radwańska decided to participate at the Connecticut Open, where she defeated
CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...
and Alizé Cornet but lost to Petra Kvitová in the quarterfinals. At US Open, she defeated
Katerina Siniakova Katerina (Greek: Κατερίνα, ''Katerína''; Russian, Bulgarian and Macedonian: Катерина, ''Katerina'') is a feminine given name. It is a Greek variant of '' Ekaterini'' and a Russian and Bulgarian short form of ''Ekaterina'' or ' ...
and
Magda Linette Magda Linette (born 12 February 1992) is a Polish professional tennis player. Having made her tour debut in 2009, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in February 2020. Linette has reached five finals on the WTA Tour, winning ...
before losing to Madison Keys in the third round. At the
Pan Pacific Open The Pan Pacific Open ( ja, 東レ パン・パシフィック・オープン・テニストーナメント), currently sponsored by Toray Industries, is a women's outdoor hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Tokyo, Japan. It is a WTA 500-le ...
in Tokyo Radwańska defeated Coco Vandeweghe,
Elina Svitolina Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina ( uk, Еліна Михайлівна Світоліна, ; born 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and 108 in doubles. Svitolina ...
, Karolína Plíšková, Dominika Cibulkova and
Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic ( sk, Belinda Benčičová, ; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won six singl ...
to win her first title of the season. Radwańska also took the Toray Pan-Pacific in 2011, and is the first player to have won the event twice since it moved outdoors, and onto a hard court, in 2008. "This is the first tournament I have won twice, so it's very special for me," said Radwanska. She added, "I really didn't expect that kind of score against Belinda, she's playing so well. I'm never going to be a powerful tennis player, even if I spend the whole day in the gym. That's the way I play, trying to find a way to beat those stronger players." Only 36 hours after her win in Tokyo Radwańska competed at the Wuhan Open tournament in China where she lost to Venus Williams for a third time this season. Following the Wuhan Open, Radwańska found herself at No. 9 on the Road to Singapore, 5 points behind Carla Suarez Navarro and 15 points behind Angelique Kerber. At her next scheduled tournament, the China Open, she defeated Coco Vandeweghe,
Mona Barthel Mona Barthel (born 11 July 1990) is a German tennis player. Barthel has won four singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as five singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Ci ...
, Madison Keys, and Angelique Kerber before losing to Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinals. Radwańska continued at the
Tianjin Open The Tianjin Open is an International-level WTA tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket th ...
, where she defeated
Olga Savchuk Olga Mykolayivna Savchuk ( uk, Ольга Миколаївна Савчук; born 20 September 1987) is a retired tennis player from Ukraine. Savchuk grew up in the city of Makiyivka in Donetsk province. She resides in Nassau, Bahamas. Her best ...
, Wang Qiang,
Elizaveta Kulichkova Elizaveta Dmitrievna Kulichkova (russian: Елизавета Дмитриевна Куличкова; born 12 April 1996) is a Russian former tennis player. She competed for her last pro match at the 2017 US Open In her career, she won seven si ...
, Karolína Plíšková and
Danka Kovinic Danka may refer to: *A family affiliated with a Buddhist temple in Japan, or '' danka''. People with the given name * Danka Barteková (born 1984), Slovak skeet shooter *Danka Kovinić (born 1994), Montenegrin professional tennis player * Danka P ...
to win her second title of the year and 16th of her career. With this win she also secured a spot in the WTA Finals in Singapore, making it her fifth straight year in the year-end WTA competition. At the WTA Finals, Radwańska was drawn into the Red Group alongside Simona Halep, Maria Sharapova and Flavia Pennetta. She lost her first round robin match to Maria Sharapova in three sets. Following her loss to Pennetta, Radwańska battled past Simona Halep in their last round robin match ensuring the Romanian was eliminated. As a result, Radwańska advanced to the semifinals where she defeated Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets to make her first appearance in the final. She defeated Petra Kvitová in three sets and claimed her first WTA Finals title. She became the fourth player since the re-introduction of the round robin format in 2003 to advance to the final after losing two matches, and the first to win the title. This was the biggest title of her career to date. Radwańska ended the year ranked world No. 5. During 2015, Radwańska won the WTA accolade for WTA Match of the Year (WTA Finals semifinal match against Garbiñe Muguruza), Best Dressed (On-Court, Rogers Cup), Shot of the Month on four occasions, won WTA Shot of the Year for the third year in a row (WTA Finals Championship match against Petra Kvitová), and, for the fifth consecutive season, won the WTA Award for Fan Favorite Player.


2016: Back to No. 2 & 20th WTA title

Radwańska began her season at the Shenzhen Open, where she defeated
Aleksandra Krunic Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "pro ...
,
Zhang Shuai Zhang Shuai (; ; born 21 January 1989) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open, both alongside Samantha Stosur. Zhang als ...
, Wang Qiang,
Anna-Lena Friedsam Anna-Lena Friedsam (born 1 February 1994) is a German tennis player. She has won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one WTA 125 singles title as well as 12 singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. She played also ...
and
Alison Riske Alison Riske-Amritraj (née Riske; born July 3, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 2019 and won her first WTA Tour title in October 2014 at the Tianjin Open. ...
(all in straight sets), to win her 18th WTA Title. As a result of her performance she was able to move to fourth in the world rankings. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Radwańska advanced to the semifinals, losing to Serena Williams. Next, she played at the Qatar Open in Doha, where she defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, Monica Niculescu and
Roberta Vinci Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian professional padel and former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she won five major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 in ...
to reach her fifth semifinal at the tournament. She lost to Carla Suárez Navarro in two sets, but moved up to world No. 3. In the Indian Wells Open, she defeated Dominika Cibulková, Monica Niculescu, Jelena Janković and Petra Kvitová. In doing so, she regained her world No. 2 status. She lost a tight match with a second-set tiebreaker to Serena Williams in the semifinals. At the Miami Open she defeated Alizé Cornet and
Madison Brengle Madison Brengle (born April 3, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. Her biggest success she had in early 2015, reaching her first WTA Tour final in January, followed by a fourth round major event appearance at the Australian Open. ...
before losing to
Timea Bacsinszky Timea Bacsinszky ( hu, Bacsinszky Tímea; born 8 June 1989) is a Swiss former professional tennis player who won four singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and 14 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. A fo ...
in the fourth round. At her first tournament of the clay season, the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix The Stuttgart Open, also known by its sponsored name Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, is a women's tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany (until 2005, in Filderstadt, a southern suburb of Stuttgart). Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest w ...
, top-seeded Radwańska defeated Andrea Petkovic and Karolína Plíšková for the seventh and sixth time respectively. In the semifinal she lost to German qualifier
Laura Siegemund Laura Natalie Siegemund (born 4 March 1988, in Filderstadt) is a German professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 US Open in women's doubles with Vera Zvonareva, as well as the 2016 US Open in mi ...
who upset Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci on her way to the final. Serena Williams' withdrawal from the Madrid Open elevated Radwańska to top seed of the tournament. She lost to Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. At Roland Garros, second-seeded Radwańska defeated Bojana Jovanovski, Caroline Garcia and Barbora Strýcová before losing to Tsvetana Pironkova. Radwańska's fourth-round match against Pironkova was contested over three days due to harsh rainy conditions. Radwańska led the encounter prior to the resumption of the match in the rain. However while playing in the rain she dropped ten consecutive games, got treatment from a trainer on her hand and subsequently ended up losing the match in three sets. While avoiding major injury during the match, Radwańska needed treatment to her hand the following day. Radwańska was awarded a wildcard entry into the Birmingham Classic, which opened the grass-court season. She lost to CoCo Vandeweghe in the opening match. Prior to Wimbledon, Radwańska competed in another grass tournament at
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne International is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as a WTA 500 series on the WTA Tour and an ATP Tour 2 ...
. She beat
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; french: Eugénie Bouchard, ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian tennis player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to reach the final of a Grand Slam t ...
to reach her first quarterfinal on grass courts this season. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
Radwańska was seeded third. She defeated
Kateryna Kozlova Kateryna Baindl ( uk, Катерина Ігорівна Баіндль, née Kozlova; born 20 February 1994) is a Ukrainian tennis player. On 19 February 2018, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 62. On 22 October 2012, she ...
in the first round, followed by a three-set thriller against Ana Konjuh and then comfortably beating Katerina Siniakova in the third round. No. 3 seed Radwańska, who was considered to be the top competition for Serena Williams since Garbine Muguruza was eliminated in the second round, was upset herself in the round of 16. Radwańska found herself on the losing end of a tight three-set match against Dominika Cibulkova, which lasted almost three hours. At the start of the summer hard-court season Radwańska pulled out of the
Bank of the West Classic The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is the ol ...
, due to an injured right hand. She caught an injury to her right hand during the marathon third set in the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships against Cibulkova. "Unfortunately the right hand injury I suffered at Wimbledon is not 100 percent (fine) and my medical team has advised me to rest," said Radwańska. She, however, was able to get back in shape before
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
in Montreal. At Rogers Cup, she defeated Monica Niculescu in straight sets before losing to
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (russian: Анастаси́я "Настя" Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова; born 3 July 1991) is an inactive Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won ...
in the third round. In August Radwańska participated in her third Olympics at the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
. After 55 hours of travel time to get to Rio from Montreal she lost in the first round match to
Saisai Zheng Zheng Saisai or Zheng Sai-Sai (; born February 5, 1994) is a Chinese tennis player. She won one WTA singles title (at the WTA Premier tournaments, Premier level 2019 Silicon Valley Classic – Singles, 2019 Silicon Valley Classic), five WTA dou ...
. Partnered with the 2014 Australian Open men's doubles winner,
Łukasz Kubot Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a Polish professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the 2017 W ...
she also lost a tight first round mixed doubles match to the Romanian pair of Irina Camelia Begu and
Horia Tecau Horia or ''Horea'' may refer to: Places in Romania Communes * Horea, Alba *Horia, Constanța * Horia, Neamț *Horia, Tulcea * Hilișeu-Horia, Botoșani Villages *Horea, in Sanislău, Satu Mare *Horia, in Vladimirescu, Arad *Horia, in Surdila-Greci ...
. Next Radwańska competed at the
Cincinnati Open The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
where she battled her way past Johanna Konta to clinch the last nine games of the match to move into the quarterfinals. She lost to last year's Cincinnati runner-up Simona Halep. Following Cincinnati Radwańska was awarded a wild card entry into the Connecticut Open in New Haven. It was her fourth event in five weeks. Top-seeded Radwańska defeated Jelena Ostapenko,
Kirsten Flipkens Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens (; born 10 January 1986) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, winning the 2012 T ...
and two-time defending champion Petra Kvitová to move into the final. In the final, she beat Elina Svitolina in straight sets to win her first ever Connecticut Open title and the 19th title of her career. Additionally, with her win in New Haven she earned enough points to clinch 1st place in the U.S. Open Series bonus challenge and a chance for up to an extra $1 million, depending on her finish in New York. Seeded fourth at the US Open Radwańska defeated
Jessica Pegula Jessica Pegula (born February 24, 1994) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings in singles and doubles of world No. 3, both achieved on October 24, 2022. She has won two singles titles and five doubles title ...
,
Naomi Broady Naomi Broady (; born 28 February 1990) is a British tennis player. She has won one WTA doubles title, as well as nine singles titles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 7 March 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of w ...
and Caroline Garcia, all in straight sets to make it to the second week of the tournament. She lost to 18-year-old Ana Konjuh in the fourth round. Radwańska started the Asian leg of the WTA calendar with the Pan Pacific Open tournament in Tokyo. As defending champion and seeded No. 2 she defeated Barbora Strýcová and
Monica Puig Monica Puig Marchán, (born September 27, 1993) is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. She is the first Puerto Rican in history to win a gold medal at the Olympics while representing Puerto Rico, having done so in 2016 at th ...
to reach her 5th Tokyo semifinal. During her quarterfinal post match conference Radwańska stated that she felt "a little like
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
today" while serving eight aces in overpowering Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig. In the semifinal she lost a tight three set match to Caroline Wozniacki. At Wuhan Open third-seeded Radwańska defeated
Ekaterina Makarova Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova ( rus, Екатери́на Вале́рьевна Мака́рова; ; born 7 June 1988) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and world No. 8 in singles. She ...
to set up a rematch with Caroline Wozniacki. Following a two set win over Caroline Wozniacki, Radwańska lost a tight tree set quarterfinal match against Svetlana Kuznetsova. Radwańska continued at the China Open, the fourth and last Premier Mandatory stop of the season. Without dropping a set she defeated Wang Qiang, Ekaterina Makarova, Caroline Wozniacki,
Yaroslava Shvedova Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia. She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...
, Elina Svitolina and Johanna Konta to win her second China Open title and the 20th title of her career. The 2016 China Open is Radwanska's third Premier Mandatory title. She is just the fourth player to own three or more Premier Mandatory trophies, along with Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Maria Sharapova. Radwańska next played at
Tianjin Open The Tianjin Open is an International-level WTA tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket th ...
. She beat
Tatjana Maria Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In November 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 46, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings. She has won two singles ...
and
Evgeniya Rodina Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina (russian: Евгения Сергеевна Родина, born 4 February 1989) is a Russian tennis player. On 6 May 2019, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of 67. Rodina has won 13 singles titles on the ITF ...
in straight sets, but withdrew from her QF match with right-thigh injury. Following her win over Ekaterina Makarova at the China Open reigning WTA Finals champion, Radwańska qualified for the 2016 WTA Finals in Singapore. She returned to Singapore for the sixth consecutive year, the longest active streak on the tour. At the WTA Finals Radwańska was drawn into the White Group alongside Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova. In her opening match she lost to Kuznetsova despite having a match point in the third set. In her second and third round robin matches Radwańska defeated Garbiñe Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova, both in straight sets. She advanced to her 4th WTA Championships semifinal, where she lost to world No. 1, Angelique Kerber. For the first time in her career Radwańska ended the season ranked world No. 3. For the fourth year in a row, Radwańska was voted the winner of WTA Shot of the Year. She took top honors with her hot shot against Monica Niculescu at the Indian Wells Masters Tournament. Additionally, her performance in a close match against Dominika Cibulkova at Wimbledon won her the Grand Slam Match of the Year award. Radwańska also won the WTA Award for Fan Favorite Player.


2017: Foot injury & out of top 20

During the off season, Radwańska switched her racquet make from
Babolat Babolat is a French tennis, badminton, and padel equipment company, headquartered in Lyon, best known for its strings and tennis racquets which are used by professional and recreational players worldwide. The company has made strings since 187 ...
to
Srixon Srixon is a sports equipment brand owned by SRI Sports, SRI Sports Limited, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., also owner of Dunlop Sport. Srixon focuses on golf, with its golf ball, balls holding the larg ...
. She began the year at the Shenzhen Open as the top seed and defending champion, where she reached the quarterfinal before losing to
Alison Riske Alison Riske-Amritraj (née Riske; born July 3, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 2019 and won her first WTA Tour title in October 2014 at the Tianjin Open. ...
. The following week, she reached the final at Sydney International defeating
Christina McHale Christina Marietta McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Her highest-ever WTA rankings were No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles. Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New ...
,
Duan Yingying Duan Yingying (; born 3 July 1989) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In her career, she won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and two WTA Challenger doubles titles, as well as eleven singles and three d ...
, and
Barbora Strýcová Barbora Strýcová (; born 28 March 1986), formerly known as Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles. She won her first Grand Slam title at the 2019 Wimbledon Champion ...
before losing to Johanna Konta. Seeded third at the Australian Open she defeated
Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( bg, Цветана Кирилова Пиронкова ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been not ...
. In the second round she lost to the eventual semifinalist
Mirjana Lučić-Baroni Mirjana Lučić-Baroni (; ; born 9 March 1982) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. She enjoyed a meteoric rise on the WTA Tour in the late 1990s, during which she set several "youngest-ever" records. She captured the women's doubles ...
. Following a second round loss to
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...
at the Qatar Open, Radwańska competed at the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
. As the fourth seed, she received a bye into the second round where she defeated Belgian qualifier
Elise Mertens Elise Mertens (; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles. Mertens is a three-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open partnering ...
in straight sets. She lost to
Catherine Bellis Catherine Cartan "CiCi" Bellis (born April 8, 1999) is an American former tennis player. In early 2018, she was the second youngest player in the top 100 of the WTA rankings. Bellis has a career-high of 35, which she achieved in August 2017. She ...
in the third round. In March, Radwańska celebrated her 28th birthday as she prepared for the Indian Wells Open. At the
Indian Wells Tennis Garden The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is a tennis facility in Indian Wells, near Palm Springs, California, in the Coachella Valley. The 16,100-capacity Stadium 1 is the largest stadium at the tennis complex, and the second largest outdoor tennis stad ...
she defeated
Sara Sorribes Tormo Sara Sorribes Tormo (; born 8 October 1996) is a Spanish professional tennis player. Sorribes Tormo has won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour. On the ITF Circuit ...
before losing to Peng Shuai in the third round. Next she competed in the Miami Open, where she defeated Wang Qiang in straight sets for a rematch with the Australian Open semifinalist
Mirjana Lučić-Baroni Mirjana Lučić-Baroni (; ; born 9 March 1982) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. She enjoyed a meteoric rise on the WTA Tour in the late 1990s, during which she set several "youngest-ever" records. She captured the women's doubles ...
. Lučić-Baroni defeated Radwańska for a second time in 2017, this time for the loss of just three games. In April, Radwańska began her clay season at the Porsche Grand Prix as the 7th seed. She lost in straight sets to Ekaterina Makarova in the first round. She later withdrew from her forthcoming tournaments in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, citing a foot injury. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
Radwańska was seeded at No.9. In her first match after being sidelined for five weeks due to a right foot injury she eased past
Fiona Ferro Fiona Ferro (born 12 March 1997) is a French professional tennis player born in Belgium. Ferro has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and four singles titles on the ITF Circuit. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 39 in singles, attaine ...
in straight sets in just over an hour. In the second round she defeated Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck to face
Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circu ...
in the third round. Radwańska had won seven of their eight previous matches, including the only one on clay - at the French Open nine years ago - but this time lost to Cornet in two sets. Radwanska withdrew from the 2017 Ricoh Open, Ricoh Open and 2017 Aegon Classic Birmingham, Birmingham Classic due to a viral illness. She came into the 2017 Aegon International, Eastbourne International as the No. 9 seed but fell to Lauren Davis. Radwańska then started her 2017 Wimbledon Championships, Wimbledon Championships campaign where she defeated Jelena Janković, Christina McHale and Timea Bacsinszky before falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round. Radwańska began her summer hard-court season at the 2017 Rogers Cup, Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada, where she defeated CoCo Vandeweghe and Tímea Babos before falling to Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. As the defending champion and top seed at the 2017 Connecticut Open, Connecticut Open she defeated
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; french: Eugénie Bouchard, ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian tennis player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to reach the final of a Grand Slam t ...
and Peng Shuai before losing to Daria Gavrilova in her second semifinal of the season. This result saw her fall out of the top 10 for the first time since 2015. Following New Haven Open Radwańska entered US Open, where she was seeded 10th. She defeated Petra Martić and Yulia Putintseva in straight sets to advance to the third round. In the third round she lost a tight 3-hour/3 set match to CoCo Vandeweghe. Radwańska was forced out of the 2017 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Pan Pacific Open tournament in Tokyo due to a bout of flu. At the 2017 Wuhan Open, Wuhan Open, she scored her fifth career win over Wimbledon semifinalist Magdaléna Rybáriková in the first round. She defeated Julia Görges in the second round, claiming her 500th main draw victory on the WTA. Radwańska avenged her straight-set loss to Görges earlier this year, at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, and increased her head-to-head record against the German to four wins and two losses. A quarterfinalist in Wuhan last year, Radwańska lost to the eventual finalist, Ashleigh Barty in the third round, after the Australian dispatched No. 5 seed Johanna Konta. Radwańska began her title defense at the China Open with two straight-sets victories over Carina Witthöft and Zhang Shuai before falling to Daria Kasatkina in a third-round three set meeting. Radwańska ended her season ranked 28th, her worst since 2005, following a second round defeat in 2017 Hong Kong Tennis Open, Hong Kong to
Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...
. At the end of the season Radwańska won the 2017 Shot of the Year for the fifth time in a row. She turned defense to offense in a stunning way to thwart a would-be winner from Julia Görges during their match at Wuhan Open.


2018: Retirement

Radwańska began the year at the Auckland Open where as the fourth seed, she defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia and Taylor Townsend (tennis), Taylor Townsend but lost to qualifier Sachia Vickery in the quarterfinal. She then competed at the Apia International Sydney, Sydney International, overpowering the defending champion Johanna Konta and
Catherine Bellis Catherine Cartan "CiCi" Bellis (born April 8, 1999) is an American former tennis player. In early 2018, she was the second youngest player in the top 100 of the WTA rankings. Bellis has a career-high of 35, which she achieved in August 2017. She ...
to advance to the quarterfinal, where she lost to Camila Giorgi. This loss caused Radwańska to fall out of the top 30 for the first time since 2007 since she was unable to defend her finalist points at the tournament. Radwańska was seeded 26th at the 2018 Australian Open, Australian Open. She reached the third round, after defeating
Kristýna Plíšková Kristýna Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is an inactive Czech professional tennis player. Plíšková has won one singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 Ju ...
and Lesia Tsurenko, but lost to Hsieh Su-wei, who beat
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in the second round. Radwańska made it three three-set victories in a row over Mona Barthel to make a winning start to her WTA Qatar Open, Qatar Open campaign. She ultimately needed 10 match points, but avoided the tiebreak and finally closed out the match after two hours and 26 minutes. "I’d rather not talk about those ten match points!" Radwańska joked. "The important thing is I won the tenth one". In the second round, Radwańska lost to the eventual champion
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and ...
in three sets. At 2018 Dubai Tennis Championships, Dubai, Radwańska lost to eventual finalist Daria Kasatkina in the opening round. Her next tournament was the BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells Open where she received a bye into the second round. There, she lost to the eventual champion Naomi Osaka, who defeated unseeded Maria Sharapova in her opening match. At the 2018 Miami Open (tennis), Miami Open, Radwańska made a promising start, defeating world No. 1,
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
, in three sets. This victory marked Radwanska's second career win over a world No. 1, and the first since 2012. She extended her great record in Miami, too; reaching the round of 16 or better in ten of her 12 appearances. Radwańska ended her run in Miami with a loss to Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round. After Miami, she was promoted from 32nd to 30th in the WTA ranking. Radwanska opened her clay-court season in Istanbul where she retired in the first-round match to Donna Vekic. It was later revealed that Radwanska hurt her back the day before during a training session. Subsequently, she withdrew from the Mutua Madrid Open and French Open due to a back injury. Radwańska made a winning return from injury against Timea Babos in the first round of the Nature Valley International. Despite missing a Grand Slam event for the first time in over a decade, dating back to the 2006 French Open, the former world No. 2 looked as though she'd never left over the course of 66 minutes on the Eastbourne lawns. Radwańska, unseeded in Eastbourne, defeated No. 15 seed Daria Gavrilova to face
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and ...
in the third round. Since Petra Kvitová withdrew with a hamstring injury Radwańska automatically advanced to the quarterfinal where she defeated Jelena Ostapenko to reach the semifinal. In the semifinal, she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in three sets. At The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon, she defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse in a close three-set match, saving six match points and reeling off the last three games in a row to book her place in the second round. In the 2nd round she played Lucie Safarova, to whom she lost in straight sets. For the first time in her career Radwańska lost to Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the 2018 Western & Southern Open, bringing their head-to-head to 7–1 against the Czech. Next she played at the Connecticut Open (tennis), Connecticut Open where she lost to Petra Kvitová in the opening round. For the first time in over a decade, Radwańska came into a Grand Slam main draw outside the top 32 seeds. Unseeded at the US Open (tennis), US Open, she lost to
Tatjana Maria Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In November 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 46, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings. She has won two singles ...
, in the first round. Radwańska progressed to the second round of the Korea Open (tennis), Korea Open thanks to a two set victory over
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
. In a clash of two former winners of the Korea Open, 2013 champion Radwańska lost to the 2015 champion Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round. Due to her ongoing struggles with injuries Radwańska withdrew from the China Open tournament, thus ending the season early with a 14-14 singles record. By the end of the season, Radwańska fell to the 78th position in the ranking - the lowest since 2006, when she made her debut in the WTA series. On 14 November 2018, Radwańska announced her retirement from professional tennis. "Taking into consideration my health and the heavy burdens of professional tennis, I have to concede that I’m not able to push my body to the limits required," she wrote on her Facebook account.


Fed Cup participation

Radwańska participated in the Fed Cup from 2006 to the present. She played a total of 48 Fed Cup matches with 41 wins and 7 losses. For her achievements she was presented with two Fed Cup Heart Awards. "I think it’s great to play Fed Cup," said Radwańska, "I’ve been playing for the last couple of years and I really think it helped my team to go up and, you know, I’m very happy about it and I’m always ready to play". As member of the Poland Fed Cup team Radwańska participated in 2014 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs. In Barcelona she led Poland to a 3–2 win over Spain, which allowed Poland to advance to 2015 Fed Cup World Group for the first time in over twenty years.


Rivalries


Radwańska vs. Wozniacki

In over a decade of meetings, Radwańska and
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...
had a rivalry that ended 11–6 in Wozniacki's favour. Radwańska first scored a win against Wozniacki in July 2007 at the
Nordic Light Open The Nordic Light Open (sponsored by Nordea) was a women's tennis tournament held in Stockholm, Sweden (in 2002 and 2003 the tournament was played in Espoo, Finland on clay courts). Held from 2002 to 2008, this Women's Tennis Association, WTA Tour ...
in Stockholm. She also defeated Wozniacki at the Sydney International, Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, and tournaments in Doha, Wuhan and Beijing. In August 2017 they faced each other for the last time at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where Wozniacki beat Radwańska to advance to the quarter-finals.


Radwańska vs. Zvonareva

Radwańska had a rivalry with Russian player Vera Zvonareva, which began in 2007. It ended 4–2 in Radwańska's favour. Throughout their meetings, Radwańska proved able to match Zvonareva's pace and movements around the court. Zvonareva was considered the more powerful of the two, while Radwańska was 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 2011 WTA Tour Championships, 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 led the series 6–5. Radwańska won the three of their four matches on grass and their only meeting on clay. Li led the rivalry 5–1 on hard courts. Their matches included a victory each at Wimbledon: Radwańska winning in 2009 and Li in 2010. In 2012, Radwańska and Li met four times, with Li taking three victories. Li lost their meeting in the Stuttgart quarter-final in three sets, but dominated in Montréal, Cincinnati and Beijing. In 2013, both were undefeated that year when they met each other in the semi-finals at Sydney. Radwańska beat Li and eventually won the tournament. At the 2013 Australian Open, Li became the first player to defeat Radwańska that season, with a victory in the quarter-finals. Their last meeting came at Wimbledon that year, in the quarter-finals, with Radwańska winning in three sets.


Radwańska vs. Ivanovic

Radwańska and Ana Ivanovic had their first professional meeting in 2006. With Ana Ivanović having retired, Radwańska ended the series 7–3 ahead. The majority of their matches were played on hard courts. Radwańska lead their match-ups on clay.


Radwańska vs. Kerber

Radwańska versus
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wim ...
has been described as one of the closest rivalries in women's tennis. The rivalry stretches back to their first meeting in 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open. Radwańska and Kerber were tied after winning 6 matches each. The players have played one match each on grass and clay, with Radwańska winning both. Kerber leads their head-to-head on hard courts 5–4. Their first meeting in 2015 at
Bank of the West Classic The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is the ol ...
took place at night, with Kerber winning in three sets.


Radwańska vs. Kuznetsova

Radwańska and Svetlana Kuznetsova played each other eighteen times since 2007, with Radwańska trailing the head-to-head 4–14. Their first meeting was at 2007 Wimbledon Championships, Wimbledon in 2007 with Radwańska losing in straight sets. She lost their first three meetings, but in the four meetings that eventuated in 2008, she would win three of them, including in the third round of the 2008 Australian Open, Australian Open and in the fourth round of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
. Additionally, she also defeated her at the 2008 WTA Tour Championships, year-end championships later in the year after replacing an injured Ana Ivanovic during the round robin stage. Radwańska would later struggle in the rivalry, at one point losing six meetings in a row, including an upset loss at the 2012 French Open, before ending this losing streak at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open, saving three match points in the process. Radwańska also lost to Kuznetsova in the two finals in which they met, first at 2009 China Open (tennis), Beijing in 2009 and then at 2010 Mercury Insurance Open, San Diego in 2010. In 2015, Radwańska lost to Kuznetsova again in the opening match of Fed Cup tie between Russia and Poland. Their most recent meeting at the 2016 Wuhan Open saw Radwańska lose a three-set, quarter-final thriller after holding a match point in the second set. They met for the 17th time at the 2016 WTA Finals – Singles, WTA Finals in Singapore, with Radwańska again wasting a match point in a three-set loss. Their most recent meeting, at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, saw Radwańska lose in straight sets, a decade on from their first meeting.


Playing style and equipment

In 2012, Tom Perrotta of ''The Wall Street Journal'' called Radwańska "the most tactically sound, subtle tennis player in the world." Over the years she was given the nicknames "The Magician", "Ninja" and "The Professor", due to the fact that she can pull off the most difficult shots in the game with ease. Radwańska's game is founded on variety, mobility, and a tendency to anticipate her opponent's actions. 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. In fact, she is known for having invented her distinctive ''squat position shot'', where she sits so low on her haunches that she can play half-volleys with a horizontal racket. "I’m not sure if I invented it," says Radwanska, "but I was definitely one of the first ones. When I watch TV, I can hear commentators say that was my shot, even if someone else is playing, so it’s nice to hear I can put something new into tennis". One of Radwańska's main weaknesses is her lack of power in her serve. Her serve, especially her second serve, is generally slow and vulnerable to attack. Her shots sometimes lack penetration on court, posing little threat to power hitters. "I don't think I can ever serve 200 kilometers per hour, it's just not my body," Radwańska said. "I have to do something else. I was just born to play like this. I have so many ideas. In your mind it's like, 'OK, I go down the line, then crosscourt, maybe drop shot.' But you have just one second, or even not one second, it just has to be automatic." Radwańska merely exhales when she strikes the ball, rather than loudly grunting like many of her peers. She bounces the ball no more than four times before serving. She says she can play with any racket and likes to use one for an entire match, unlike most players, who routinely grab frames with fresh strings. Tennis commentators, including former pro Wojciech Fibak, have compared her playing style to that of
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
, with Fibak describing her as "a natural mover who understands the geometry of the court". Radwańska cited Hingis as an inspiration. She and Hingis had their lone tour meeting in 2007, with Radwańska winning in three sets. Radwańska played with the
Babolat Babolat is a French tennis, badminton, and padel equipment company, headquartered in Lyon, best known for its strings and tennis racquets which are used by professional and recreational players worldwide. The company has made strings since 187 ...
Pure Drive Lite racquets until the end of the 2016 season. At the start of the 2017 season, beginning with the Shenzhen Open tournament, Radwańska started playing with a new tennis racket, made by the Japanese manufacturer,
Srixon Srixon is a sports equipment brand owned by SRI Sports, SRI Sports Limited, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., also owner of Dunlop Sport. Srixon focuses on golf, with its golf ball, balls holding the larg ...
. Other tennis players who also use Srixon rackets include Kevin Anderson (tennis), Kevin Anderson, Misaki Doi,
Kurumi Nara is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...
, Zarina Diyas and
Magda Linette Magda Linette (born 12 February 1992) is a Polish professional tennis player. Having made her tour debut in 2009, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in February 2020. Linette has reached five finals on the WTA Tour, winning ...
. For her on court tennis apparel, Radwańska is currently sponsored by Lotto Sport Italia.


Coaches

Radwańska began her tennis career with her father, Robert Radwański, as her coach. She stated: "My dad was traveling with me all my life and we practiced together for 17 years, almost actually 18. So it's pretty long time." In 2011, Radwańska began working with Fed Cup coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, who replaced her father. Borna Bikić, a veteran coach on the WTA Tour, briefly joined them in 2012. Radwańska hired Martina Navratilova as part of her team at the conclusion of the 2014 season. In April 2015 they parted ways after Navratilova stated that she was too busy to continue in her part-time role as Radwańska's consulting coach.


Charitable work

Since 2009, Radwańska and her sister Urszula have devoted time during the off-season to Szlachetna Paczka ("Noble Box"). The charity has its volunteers go door-to-door throughout the year compiling a database of families in need, asking them what would help ease the pressures of the holidays. Then, for a three-week period from mid-November to early December, donors are given a list to take with them to the supermarket, where they fill a shopping cart with the food, clothing and more to donate to them. Additionally, she and Urszula offer their support to
Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...
and its project in Warsaw. As Habitat for Humanity ambassador Radwańska stated, "It's an honor to be a part of such a fantastic cause and be involved with Habitat for Humanity, helping underprivileged families across the world. I have great respect for all the volunteers and those working hard everyday against poverty housing." On 23 July 2022 Radwańska participated in a charity tennis event in Kraków, Poland, organised by
Iga Świątek Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 202 ...
to raise funds for children and teenagers impacted by the war in Ukraine. The one-day event featured a mixed doubles exhibition match and a set of singles between Świątek and Radwańska. Świątek later announced on Twitter that the event has raised over 2,5 mln złoty (over €500,000), which would be spread between United 24, Elina Svitolina Foundation and UNICEF Poland.


Career statistics


Grand Slam finals


Singles: 1 runner-up


Year-end championships finals


Singles: 1 title


Grand Slam performance timelines


Singles


Doubles


Awards

;2006 * WTA Awards#Newcomer of the Year, WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer of the Year ;2011 * WTA Awards#Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year, WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player ;2012 * WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player * WTA Fan Favorite Video * WTA Fan Favorite Fanpage on Facebook ;2013 * WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player * WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year * Gold Cross of Merit ;2014 * Fed Cup Heart Award * WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player * WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year ;2015 * Hopman Cup * WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year * WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player * WTA Match of the Year * WTA Best Dressed (On-Court) ;2016 * Most Energetic Player of China Open * US Open Series Champion * WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year * WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player * WTA Grand Slam Match of the Year ;2017 * WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year


See also

* Poland Fed Cup team * List of Poles


References


External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Radwanska, Agnieszka 1989 births Living people Polish female tennis players Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic tennis players of Poland Sportspeople from Kraków Polish expatriates in Germany Polish Roman Catholics Wimbledon junior champions French Open junior champions Hopman Cup competitors Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles 20th-century Polish women 21st-century Polish women