The Rejuvenated Agnieszka Radwanska: Player of the Week

Sep 4, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland serves against Madison Keys of the United States (not pictured) on day five of the 2015 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Keys won 6-3, 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Player of the Week: Tokyo Champion Agnieszka Radwanska

It has been a rough year for Agnieszka Radwanska. In May, she fell out of the top ten for the first time since 2011. At the French Open, she suffered her first grand slam loss in the first round since 2009. And, despite some dramatically improved play since Wimbledon, she hadn’t won a tournament throughout 2015 – the last time she failed to win a tournament during a calendar season was 2010. Fortunately, she managed to remedy two of those symptoms of her mediocre year by taking out the Premier title in Tokyo, and returning to the top ten at no. 7.

It wasn’t just the fact that she won the tournament that suggested a return to form though, but the way she did it. Faced with five incredibly tough matches against supremely talented opponents, the number 7 seed defeated each without dropping a set. After taking out big-serving, big-hitting Coco Vandeweghe in the first round, Radwanska was tasked with defeating an up-and-coming, in-form Elina Svitolina in the second round. Despite an early struggle, Aga rolled through the match 6-4, 6-1.

Aga’s toughest match of the week was perhaps against world number 10 Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals. Pliskova’s world-best serving and flat groundstrokes proved a challenge for Radwanska early on, but the Pole eventually tempered the sheer power being sent her way and took out the higher-ranked Czech 7-5, 6-2. She then defeated Dominika Cibulkova in the semifinals 6-4, 6-1. The win was particularly impressive given that the last two meetings between the pair had resulted in heartbreaking losses for Aga – a painful rollover in the 2014 Australian Open semifinals & and particularly close quarterfinal meeting in the 2014 Miami quarterfinals. In taking out the Slovak, Radwanska set up a finals meeting with Belinda Bencic.

Despite possessing the higher pedigree and ranking, Aga entered the final as the underdog, partly due to her gut-wrenching loss to Bencic in the Eastbourne final earlier in the year. She looked anything but the underdog against Bencic in the final, however, dismantling the 18 year-old’s game in a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Earlier in the year, Radwanska employed Martina Navratilova, presumably hoping to add a healthy dose of aggression to her game. Following an awkward implementation period, Radwanska seems to finally be comfortable amalgamating her tricky, precise game with the bigger game that many of her contemporaries utilise. In the final, she ventured to the net on several occasions with outstanding results, indicating an awareness of when to effectively move up the court. She still played a multitude of aggravating slices, drop shots and lobs; but when she opted for more conventional topspin groundstrokes, her shots had a bit more bite than the Radwanska of old. Despite a relatively quick match, she completed the takedown with an unprecedented 23 winners, surpassing her unforced error total by 8, and the stronger Bencic’s winner total by 21.

The game was executed flawlessly by Radwanska in the championship. Indeed, Bencic didn’t play a bad match, and against many other players she probably would have won the title. But Radwanska was refusing to make mistakes and was so perfect that she managed to gradually attack Bencic’s mental state. It was a virtuosic performance that speaks well of Radwanska’s chances should she qualify for the WTA Finals.

Speaking of Singapore, Radwanska now finds herself at no. 9 on the Road to Singapore, a measly 5 points behind Carla Suarez Navarro (and let’s be honest- Suarez Navarro’s not qualifying) and 15 points behind Angelique Kerber. With tournaments in Wuhan – where she unfortunately won’t be favoured to make it past Venus Williams in the first round – and Beijing – a court the former champion has typically loved – Radwanska has a strong chance of qualifying for the final tournament of the year.

For now though, Agnieszka Radwanska is our Player of the Week for somewhat turning around a forgettable year with a bravura week in Tokyo.

Winner: Jelena Jankovic

Like Radwanska, Jankovic has had a fairly unmemorable 2015 campaign, despite some outstanding results in Indian Wells and Cincinnati. The Serb can add Guangzhou to that list though, as she defeated Denisa Allertova 6-2. 6-0 to claim her first WTA title (not including her WTA 125K title in Nanchang) since 2013.

Winner: Dominika Cibulkova

World number 10 at the commencement of the year, Dominika Cibulkova now finds herself down outside the top 40 after taking six months off to have surgery for an achilles injury. It will surely be a long road back to the top for Cibulkova, but the process will be accelerated if she keeps enjoying the results she achieved in Tokyo. The Slovak took out Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Carla Suarez Navarro and Ana Ivanovic without dropping a set to reach the semifinals of the Premier tournament. As a result, her ranking improved to no. 40.

Winner: Milos Raonic

Another player who has suffered from debilitating injury of late, Raonic rejuvenated a gradually disappointing season by defeating Joao Sousa to claim the title in at the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.

Who do you think was the top player of the week? Let us know in the comments below!

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