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Agnieszka Radwanska: Most Liked Tennis Player in the World
 In
2012, Tom Perrotta of The Wall Street Journal called Radwanska "the most
tactically sound, subtle tennis player in the world." Agnieszka Radwanska was
born on 6th March 1989. She is a Polish professional tennis player. Radwanska
achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 2 in July 2012 and is
currently ranked World No. 5 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Known for
constructing points and making intelligent use of the court, she has won
thirteen career singles titles.
Radwanska holds a number of tennis accolades. She is the first Polish player in
the Open Era to reach the singles final of a Grand Slam (the 2012 Wimbledon
Championships), the first Pole to claim a WTA singles title (the 2007 Nordea
Nordic Light Open), and the winner of the longest three-set match played at the
WTA Tour Championships. In addition, she won the WTA Award for Most Impressive
Newcomer in 2006.
Radwanska has been voted the WTA's most popular player for three consecutive
years (2011�2013) in polls held by WTATennis.com. For her accomplishments in
sport and for representing her country with distinction, in 2013 she was awarded
the Gold Cross of Merit by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski.
Born in Krak�w, Radwanska began playing tennis at the age of four after her
father introduced her to the sport. Her younger sister, Urszula, is also a
tennis player. Radwanska has named Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis as
inspirations. In 2009, Radwanska became a WTA ambassador for Habitat for
Humanity. She has also studied tourism at universities in Krak�w.
Radwanska is a practicing Roman Catholic, and she took part in the Polish
Catholic campaign "Nie wstydze sie Jezusa!" ("I'm not ashamed of Jesus!"). She
released a video for the campaign in which she urged her fans to "not be ashamed
of believing" and arranged her tennis balls so they would read "JEZUS"
("JESUS"). In the summer of 2013, she was disqualified from this campaign after
posing naked for ESPN's The Body Issue.
Radwanska won the junior singles title at Wimbledon in 2005, defeating Tamira
Paszek. She went on to win the junior French Open title in 2006 with a victory
over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She played her first WTA tournament at the 2006
J&S Cup (later known as the Warsaw Open) in Warsaw, defeating Anastasia Myskina
in her opening match. She advanced to the quarterfinals, where she lost to Elena
Dementieva in three sets.
At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, she lost in the fourth round to Kim
Clijsters. She went on to drop a second-round match to Tatiana Golovin at the US
Open. At the Fortis Championships Luxembourg tournament, Radwanska lost in the
semifinals to Francesca Schiavone after defeating former world no. 1 Venus
Williams in the second round and Dementieva in the quarterfinal.
 During the first four months of 2012, Radwanska won two singles titles and
amassed a record of 28�5, defeating all opponents but then-world no. 1 Victoria
Azarenka.
Following losses in the Apia International, the Australian Open, and the Qatar
Total Open, she won her first title of the season at the Dubai Tennis
Championships, defeating Julia G�rges in straight sets. After advancing to the
quarterfinals in Indian Wells, she reached a new ranking of world no. 4. Her
second title came at the Sony Ericsson Open, where she defeated Venus Williams
in the quarterfinals and Marion Bartoli in the semifinals, advancing to a
championship match against Maria Sharapova. Radwanska won the championship
without losing a set throughout the tournament.
Her fifth loss of the season, and fifth to Azarenka, came in the semifinals of
the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She then entered the Mutua Madrid
Open, where she lost to Azarenka in the semifinals, securing the world no. 3
ranking. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she lost her opening-round match to
Petra Cetkovsk�, marking her first loss of the year to someone other than
Azarenka. In the final of the Brussels Open, Radwanska defeated Simona Halep in
straight sets, winning her third WTA title of the year and tenth in her career.
At the French Open, she defeated Venus Williams in the second round, but then
fell in the third round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Radwanska reached her first career Grand Slam final at the 2012 Wimbledon
Championships. She defeated Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinals and Angelique
Kerber in the semifinals, losing the championship match to Serena Williams in
three sets. By advancing to the final, she became the first Polish player in the
Open Era to reach the championship round of a Grand Slam singles tournament, and
attained a new ranking of world no. 2. Radwanska was the flag bearer for Poland
in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She lost in the opening round to Julia G�rges.
During the summer hard court season Radwanska was twice one match away from
becoming the world no. 1. She would lose to Li Na on both occasions, in the
quarterfinals of the 2012 Rogers Cup and the 2012 Western & Southern Open.
Radwanska was defeated in the fourth round of the 2012 US Open by Roberta Vinci.
She again reached the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, losing in three sets
to Nadia Petrova. She exited the China Open following a quarterfinal loss to Li
Na. Radwanska won her opening round robin match at the WTA Championships,
defeating the defending champion Petra Kvitov� in straight sets.
She then lost a three-set match to Maria Sharapova. She advanced to the
semifinals with a victory over Sara Errani, which marked the longest three-set
match in the history of the tournament, but exited following a loss to Serena
Williams. She then defeated Williams in straight sets during an exhibition in
Toronto. At the conclusion of the season, Radwanska won WTA Awards for Fan
Favorite Facebook Profile and Fan Favorite Video, and was again named Fan
Favorite Singles Player.
Radwanska began her season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, where she defeated
Yanina Wickmayer in the final to win the 11th singles title of her career. She
won her second straight tournament of 2013 at the Apia International, where she
defeated Dominika Cibulkov� without losing a game. Radwanska reached the
quarterfinals of the Australian Open, exiting the tournament following a loss to
Li Na. She went on to play the Qatar Total Open where she was eliminated in the
semifinals by then-world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka, the eventual champion. She
also reached the quarterfinals in Dubai, where she lost to Petra Kvitov�. 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, Radwanska 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 2013 but lost her semfinal match to
Sabine Lisicki. She was later awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by Polish
President Bronislaw Komorowski.
Her next tournament was the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, where she has
received a bye into the second round and beat Francesca Schiavone for a place in
the quarterfinals. She then beat Varvara Lepchenko, as well as Jamie Hampton,
losing to Dominika Cibulkov� in the final. In September, Radwanska defeated
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win the KDB Korea Open, 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,
Radwanska was voted WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player for the third consecutive
year.
Radwanska's game is founded on variety, mobility, and a tendency to anticipate
her opponent's movements. She often uses this style to construct rallies�either
opening the court up for a winner, or prompting a surprised opponent to hit a
misplaced return. Her primary weapons include a mixture of slices and lobs,
along with her ability to hit the ball at a variety of angles.
She also makes use of a disguised drop shot, often swung with the same motion as
a normal stroke during a rally. She is also noted for her crouching shots,
during which she quickly drops in place to return or redirect a low ball, along
with her use of an overhead backhand while on defense. One of Radwanska's main
weaknesses is her lack of power in her serve and return. Her serve, especially
her second serve, is generally slow and vulnerable to attack. Her shots
sometimes lack penetration on the court, posing little threat to power hitters.
Tennis commentators, including former pro Wojciech Fibak, have compared her
playing style to that of Martina Hingis, with Fibak describing her as "a natural
mover who understands the geometry of the court". Radwanska has cited Hingis as
an inspiration. She and Hingis had their lone career meeting in 2007, with
Radwanska winning in three sets. Radwanska uses Babolat Pure Drive Lite
racquets, and is sponsored by Lotto apparel.
Awards won by Agnieszka Radwanska
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2006 : WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer of the Year
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2011 : WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player
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2012 : 1st on Forbes' list of biggest celebrities in Poland
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WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player
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WTA Fan Favourite Video
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WTA Fan Favourite Fanpage on Facebook
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2013: WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player
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WTA Fan Favorite Shot of the Year
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4th on Forbes' list of biggest celebrities in Poland
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City of Cracow Awards - Excellence in Sports
Videos
Dated 30 November 2013
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