Serena is the real number one: Radwanska

Top Stories

Serena is the real number one: Radwanska
Agnieszka Radwanska

Dubai - Radwanska is not surprised by the 35-year-old Serena's ability to play unbelievable tennis

By Rituraj Borkakoty

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Mon 20 Feb 2017, 6:28 PM

Last updated: Tue 21 Feb 2017, 3:38 PM

If top seed Angelique Kerber wins the title here at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, she will dethrone Serena Williams as the world number one.
But Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost her only Grand Slam final to Serena Williams in 2012, has got absolutely no doubt in her mind about the who the real number is.
"If Serena is on fire, then of course, the number one is her. She is definitely playing amazing tennis again. She is not playing much of the tournaments. So it's hard to expect what she is going to do. But if she is there and playing her best, it's tough (to beat her)," Radwanska said.
"What she achieved in the Australian Open it was unbelievable and she really deserved it. She played amazing tennis."
Radwanska is not surprised by the 35-year-old Serena's ability to play unbelievable tennis despite appearing only a in a few tournaments in a calendar year.
"Yes Serena has so much experience and she has played for so many years on the tour. She has played so many tournaments for 20 years on the tour. So I think for her, less is better. That's probably the reason why she can still win the Grand Slams despite not playing for a couple of months.
"You know there other good players too. But it's different when Serena is around. She may have missed many of the tournaments, but she is back again, showing again who the number one is!"
The 27-year-old Polish player was not surprised either by the 36-year-old Venus Williams' run in Melbourne where the tennis world once again got to see an all-Williams final in a Grand Slam.
"Venus reaching the final is very impressive, you know. Yes maybe it's surprising on one hand because there are so many other good young players playing great tennis. They are all healthy, strong and motivated.
"But on the other hand, she is still Venus. She can also play unbelievable tennis. She played so many good matches in the Australian Open. She didn't have an easy draw and she still played unbelievable till the end," Radwanska said.
As for her own game, the 2012 Dubai winner admitted that there was room for improvement.
"Well, there are always areas to improve on in tennis. I am just working on many areas of my game to become better and better every day," she told reporters at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Radwanska says she is confident of putting up a good show in Dubai despite losing her first match in Doha last week.
"I actually played a good match (in Doha against Caroline Wozniacki). It was a tough job in the first match especially considering the conditions, we didn't know whether we were playing or not. It wasn't fun. Well, definitely it always hurts to lose early," she said.
"But, it's still very early in the season. But I am feeling good. I think I am playing well. Of course, in tennis you never know what's going to happen in terms of results. Maybe sometimes the results are not as good as how you are feeling about your game. So I just focus myself on playing good tennis here," she said.
"I will try to have some good results obviously. But the most important is that I am healthy and I just feel like I am playing my best tennis."
Radwanska said the Dubai conditions throw a different challenge.
"The conditions are different here. The courts are different. The ball is flying here. Of course it's good to be here couple of days before the start of the tournament. So you know taking my time to prepare well," she said.
"Compared to Doha, the court are faster here. The ball is flying here. But it has always been like this. It's tough to control the ball. It's a bit like Indian Wells. So I know what to expect."
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com
 


More news from