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Prominent Poles

Agnieszka Radwanska (Agnieszka Roma Radwanska) is a WTA Tour Polish tennis player, ranked World No.8

Photo of Agnieszka Radwanska, downhill skier

Born: March 6, 1989 in Cracow, Poland

Summary. She defeated Paszek of Austria to win the 2005 Girls' Singles Championship at Wimbledon. As a professional, her highest career singles ranking is World No. 8, achieved on 22 February 2010. In 2007, Radwanska became the first Polish player in history to claim a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title when she won the Nordea Nordic Light Open. In 2008, she won three more singles titles: the Pattaya Women's Open, the Istanbul Cup, and the International Women's Open. At the 2008 Australian Open, Radwanska became the first Polish woman to reach a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal during the open era and only the second Polish woman (the other being Jadwiga Jedrzejowska during the 1930s) ever to reach a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal. On 24 May 2008, she became the first Polish female tennis player to surpass US$1 million in career prize money.

Early days She was born to a family of sportsmen. Her grandfather played hockey in Cracovia team; her father Robert was a tennis player and a skater. Her mother Marta takes care of finances of both Agnieszka nad her younger sister, Urszula, also a tennis player. She spent the first years of her life in Gronau, Germany, where her father was a coach for Gruen-Gold club. As a six year old she won in Gronau her first children tournament.

Playing style. Radwanska is an all-court player. She hits consistently on both the forehand and the backhand sides. Her most powerful shot favorite is her forehand. She is also very accurate with the drop shot and lob. She lacks much of the "power plays" of other players like Sharapova or the Williams sisters, thus she relies on tactical accuracy and patience on constructing the point before hitting a winner. In addition, Radwańska is known for her gamesmanship. However, several commentators have also said that Radwanska lacks the serving power and offensive capabilities to become a top 3 player.

Career 2006. In May, Radwanska played her first WTA tournament in Warsaw, where she reached the quarterfinals but lost in the quarterfinals to Dementieva. In June, Radwanska won her second Grand Slam junior singles title, defeating Pavlyuchenkova in the final of the French Open. She reached the top of the ITF rankings and received a wild card for the main draw at Wimbledon. At Wimbledon, Radwanska lost in the fourth round to Clijsters. Radwanska was just the fifth ever wildcard to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon. At the Fortis Championships Luxembourg tournament, Radwańska lost in the semifinals to Schiavone.

2007. In May, Radwanska won her first WTA doubles title at the Tier III Istanbul Cup, partnering her younger sister Urszula. However, in singles, she lost to World No. 2 Sharapova in the quarterfinals. In August, Radwańska won her first WTA singles title at the Tier IV Nordea Nordic Light Open in Stockholm. She defeated Dushevina in the final and became the first Polish player in history to claim a WTA tour singles title.

2008. Radwanska upset World No. 2 Kuznetsova in the third round of the Australian Open. She then defeated Petrova to reach her first Grand Slam singles tournament quarterfinal. There, Radwańska lost to Hantuchová. At the Tier IV Pattaya Women's Open in Thailand, Radwańska won her second career WTA tournament singles title, beating Craybas in the final. In February, Radwanska reached her first Tier I semifinal at the Qatar Total Open in Doha, Sharapova then defeated Radwańska. In March, Radwanska lost in the quarterfinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California to Kuznetsova. In May Radwanska won the Tier III Istanbul Cup on red clay, defeating Dementieva. At the French Open in Paris, Radwanska lost in the fourth round. On grass, Radwanska won the Tier II International Women's Open in Eastbourne, United Kingdom, defeating Petrova in the final. At Wimbledon, Radwanska lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.

2009. Her first tournament in 2009 year was Australian Medibank International Sydney. She reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to Dementieva. At the Open GDF Suez in Paris, Radwanska was upset in the quarterfinals by Mauresmo. With partner Kirilenko, Agnieszka lost in the final of the doubles tournament to Black and Huber. Radwańska played both of the Premier Mandatory tournaments in the United States in March. At the Indian Wells Agnieszka lost in the quarterfinals to Pavlyuchenkova. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart Radwanska fell in the quarters to top seed Safina. In the Italian Open, Radwanska lost to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. Radwanska began her grass court season in Eastbourne, where she was the defending champion as the 8th seed. However, she was upset by Razzano in the quarterfinals. At the Wimbledon Championships Radwanska defeated Oudin, to reach her third Grand Slam quarterfinal and second consecutive quarterfinal at Wimbledon. Radwanska then was thrashed by Venus Williams. In the doubles event at Los Angeles, she and her partner Kirilenko made it to the final which they lost. In Toronto, in the quarterfinals, she lost to Sharapova. Agnieszka started the fall season in Tokyo. She defeated Makarova, Hantuchova, qualifier Petkovic and Birmingham champion Rybarikova for her first semifinal of the season, where she fell to Sharapova. Due to her performance in Tokyo, Agnieszka received a bye into the second round of the 2009 China Open, where she advanced to her first ever final of the year which she lost to Kuznetsova. She entered Linz as the second seed, and reached her third semifinal. However, in her semifinal match, she was stunned by Kvitova. In Doha, a turn of unusual events saw Agnieszka replace Zvonareva. In her round robin rubber, Agnieszka faced the sixth seed, Azarenka. Agnieszka won the match.

2010. She and her doubles partner, Kirilenko, were seeded 15 in the doubles draw of the Australian Open. There, they reached the semifinals before losing to Black and Huber. Seeded seventh, Agnieszka participated at the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships. She reached the semifinal where she lost to Azarenka. Despite the loss, she is guaranteed to rise to rank 8th in the world.

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Agnieszka Radwanska" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. :
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