There is a six-minute-long video on YouTube called ‘Aga Radwanska Top 10 intelligent points’. You could search for compilations of unbelievable points scored by most players. There are “amazing” Serena Williams points, “smart” Roger Federer points, and “god mode” and “beast mode” points by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. But such has been Agnieszka Radwańska’s shotmaking that only she seems to deserve “intelligent points”.
It is perhaps more widely discussed and acknowledged than any other skill of any other top player of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Radwańska doesn’t have Grand Slam wins to her name but her shotmaking has led commentators, fans and other players to react with astonishment. In the “intelligent points” YouTube video, a commentator goes ‘Oh Aga!’, almost embarrassed at the premature celebration, while the point is still six shots away from completion. And then he exclaims again.
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Last week, Radwańska, 29, announced something else that was premature: her retirement from professional tennis after 13 years. In an age of power baseline tennis, the Polish player excelled with her skill to hoodwink opponents with touch and feel instead of raw force. It is almost as if Radwańska knew what she was capable of on court because you rarely saw her react to a point, a loss or a win. She was often generous enough to donate the privilege of reaction, like a final act of goodwill, to the opponent, commentators and spectators.
Agnieszka Radwańska, 2017. Credit: tennisstreaming/Flickr, CC BY 2.0
In Istanbul in 2013, Serena Williams, made by Radwańska to run between the net and the baseline twice, applauded and laughed out loud while out of breath. In Connecticut in 2016, Kirsten Flipkens, lobbed and dropped with an executioner’s coldness, smirks mid-rally because even a between-the-leg shot hadn’t helped her case. Caroline Wozniacki, in Singapore in 2014, breaks into a smile as she watches Radwańska’s volley with tremendous backspin bounce away from her and towards the net, destroying every hope of her – one of the best defenders in the game – of reaching it.
Tennis has an intimate relationship with the shotmaker. It divides fans and players. It fosters rivalries, even an intense dislike for a particular match-up. Playing against a shotmaker and being outwitted every other point can build frustration. It is a lot of fun to watch shotmakers at their best but how much fun would it be to play against one?
Radwańska seemed to have found a middle ground. Opponents love to watch and play her. On court, she reanimates the trajectory of a tennis ball and off-court, she is one of the most animated players around. Petra Kvitová says she will always remember their laughs. Angelique Kerber says Radwańska always has a plan. Elena Vesnina mentions the laugh again, swearing that Radwańska is one of the nicest girls on tour. She calls Radwańska one of her toughest opponents, and so does Karolína Plíšková.
@ARadwanska Truly one of the nicest girl on the Tour,my fav ninja girl,one of the toughest opponent,same time we shared so much laughs in the locker room?Congratulations on your amazing and such a successful career.I wish you all the best in the new chapter of your life❤️
— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) November 14, 2018
Congrats @ARadwanska for an amazing career! You have always been the toughest oponnent for me… I wish you all the best.
— Karolina Pliskova (@KaPliskova) November 14, 2018
The social media nickname for Radwańska is ‘Ninja’ – for the precise slices and cuts, like The Bride in Kill Bill chopping off O-Ren Ishii’s head as if it was bread. In the modern WTA game, Radwańska’s geometry, particularly her singular shots and points, became the beacon around which the rest of women’s tennis, memorable and with recall value, revolved. Radwańska united purists and nonconformists, her brand of tennis consumed in short bursts but leaving an edifying aftertaste in the casual fan.
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She was also known as La Profesora, Spanish for ‘The Teacher’. That precise lob, a no-look backhand smash, the biting drop shot. It is no wonder that Radwańska won every WTA ‘Fan Favourite Shot of the Year’ from 2013 to 2017. She also won the ‘Fan Favourite Singles Player of the Year’ six times, from 2011 to 2016. She was the harbinger of that variety in the WTA game following in the heels of Martina Hingis and Justine Henin, while one-upping them with the shots. The crouching forehand and rotating-and-snatching the ball out of the sky had never been seen before.
There are no slams to speak of. There is no ‘Hall of Fame’ entry in the offing. However, Radwańska’s legacy rests in the unforgettable brand of tennis that will make you reach for that YouTube clip or GIF. It is also why Kerber and Flipkens both joked at different times that, perhaps now, Radwańska will relinquish the ‘Shot of the Year’ award for others. That is why Sara Errani, who lost a tense, high-quality match against Radwańska in Istanbul, shared a 37-minute video of that match as a tribute to the Polish player’s career. She was a crucial if imperceptible contributor to the WTA’s social mobility in this era.
Aditya Shrikrishna is a freelance film critic from Chennai, India, who also writes on tennis.