TDF Talks to Agnieszka Radwanska at Cincinnati All-Access Hour

The highlight of Monday's Access Hour here at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open for me  was a brief chat with Agnieszka Radwanska, the seventh seeded Polish player who recently made the semifinals of Stanford and the final in Los Angeles. 

The two of us talked about the US Open series, her cockroach-like stay in the top ten, doubles, and playing the Polish men against each other.

TDF: You're a leader now in the US Open series with your good runs in Stanford and Los Angeles.  Now that you see yourself atop the leaderboard, do you want to win the whole thing now?

Agnieszka Radwanska: Oh for sure, you know, I think everyone wants to win this competition.  But there are still three tournaments, and I'm playing just two of them, not New Haven.  But if I play good tennis like I was playing the last two weeks, then I have a good chance to be atop the list.

TDF:You've been consistently in the top ten for a long time now.  With all these other players going up and down, what has been the key to you hanging in there?

Agnieszka Radwanska: Yeah, well to be top ten, you have to play a lot of good tournaments, not just one or two.  I'm just trying to stay there, and playing Doha every year.  And with a lot of players coming back, like Clijsters and Sharapova, it's hard to be top eight, but I'll try.

TDF: You're not playing here, but you've recently been playing a lot of doubles with Maria Kirilenko.  Are you two planning to keep on playing together in the future?

Agnieszka Radwanska: Well, I love playing doubles, and I would love to play everywhere, but it's too much when it's tournaments one week and then the next.  Of course, you never know how you're going to do, you could lose first round, and then it's time for doubles, but it's already too late for the sign-up.  I will play doubles in Montreal in Montreal with Maria Kirilenko--we're playing together all year, but I'm just playing the big events.  At the small events, it's just too much for my body.  Two matches a day, it's a lot.

TDF: There are a bunch of Polish men's players who've done well in doubles recently.  Have you thought at all about who you might like to play with at the Olympics in 2012? Have any of them talked to you yet?

Agnieszka Radwanska: (laughs) Well, we are good friends, all of us.  There are three guys, [Lukasz Kubot, Mariusz Fyrstenberg, Marcin Matkowski] so...the Olympics are not tomorrow, they are not next week, so there's still time.  It's going to be a tough decision.  And also, it's going to be tough to play singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in one week, so I will have to think about it really hard, what to do.

TDF: You'll probably play women's doubles with your sister?

Agnieszka Radwanska: Yeah, of course, we'll try to get in.

TDF: Do you enjoy the idea of the three men competing over you?

Agnieszka Radwanska: (laughs)

TDF: Have any of them sent flowers or anything?

Agnieszka Radwanska: (laughs) No, no.  Not yet!

TDF: But you're open to bribes and gifts?

Agnieszka Radwanska: (laughs) Yeah, yeah, for sure.  We haven't even talked about it, since it's still two years away.

TDF: Well good luck, I hope you get lots of stuff.

Agnieszka Radwanska: Lots of roses right? (laughs)