Wimbledon, England
Sprint, squat, stretch, spin, lunge—here comes Agnieszka Radwanska again, older, physically taxed, and recently sick but still trying, despite all odds, to win at her most beloved tournament, Wimbledon.
Radwanska, a 28-year-old from Poland, escaped defeat in the third round on Saturday, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 against the steady Timea Bacsinszky from Switzerland. At least the 2 hour-, 10-minute match wasn’t as brutal as what she faced on Thursday, when Radwanska beat American Christina McHale in 2 hours and 43 minutes. In that match, Radwanska even had to save two match points, both in the second set. Afterwards, she described her collection of dramatic tennis victories as tiring but positive.
“On every match I was playing better and better,” Radwanska said. “Obviously it wasn’t easy again, but I think those kind of matches give you more confidence.”
More than confidence, what Radwanska could really use is some luck. At age 28, she’s a long way down the road from when she started as a professional in 2005. And she’s one of the best players on the tour who hasn’t won a major. Radwanska has won career 20 titles as a pro and in 2012 she played well enough to win Wimbledon, except for one small problem: She had to play the final against Serena Williams, the best female in history. Radwanska lost that match in three sets and has never come closer to winning a Slam. This year, she has a disadvantage: A poor start to the year and a virus suffered after the French Open that she thought would stop her from playing long and hard at the All-England Club.
“It wasn’t easy, and I’m so surprised I was able to play another match like this and be on the court more than two hours,” Radwanska said. “I’m glad, and I didn’t expect it at all.”
Most women who win Slams have optimal offense, energy, and aggression, like this season’s French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. But Radwanska, at 5’8” and a willowy 123 pounds, can’t play that way. Her game is about speed, precision, touch, and remarkable angles. At her best—when a slugger does not overwhelm her—she can transform tennis into magic. At her worst—well, those tend to be blowouts, like the one at this year’s French Open, where she lost 6-2, 6-1 to Alizé Cornet, a French woman who hits clean strokes.
Radwanska has won 62 matches at Wimbledon in her career, but never more than six in a row. In late rounds she’s lost to big hitters and Serena’s sister, Venus. Her next match puts her up against Svetlana Kuznetsova, another veteran who hits hard and serves big. Kuznetsova is 13-4 against Radwanska. But one of Radwanska’s wins came at Wimbledon, in 2008.
“We have played so many matches, so many good ones, so many three-setters,” Radwanska said. “You’re not gonna have any free points.”
In other action on Saturday, Angelique Kerber, the world #1 who has struggled all season, relied on what she does best: Annoy her opponent by returning dozens of shots that look like they should be winners. Kerber lost the first set and trailed 4-2 in the second before making a comeback with speed and well-stretched shots, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. The defeat ended an impressive run by American heavy-hitter, Shelby Rodgers.
“She was hitting the balls very hard,” Kerber said. “I was just trying to [find] at the end my rhythm.”
Kerber, who lost to Serena in last year’s Wimbledon final, next plays Garbiñe Muguruza, who has yet to lose a set this tournament. For America, CoCo Vandeweghe continued her impressive run with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over fellow American Alison Riske. On Monday she’ll play Caroline Wozniacki, the former #1 who recovered after losing the first set to Anett Kontaveit from Estonia, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2.
