French Open - Agnieszka Radwanska interview: Radwanska may be world No 2, but clay 'is not her favourite surface'

The Pole has won two of her 18 titles on clay

Agnieszka Radwanska is preparing for her French Open challenge (Getty)

Agnieszka Radwanska is the world No 2, has climbed 13 ranking places in the last nine months and has won two of her 18 titles on clay. On the face of it the 27-year-old Pole should be among the favourites to win the French Open here over the next fortnight, but she plays down her chances.

“Clay is not my favourite surface, though I’ve had some good results on it,” Radwanska said as she looked forward to the start of play at Roland Garros on Sunday. “I find it hard to move, especially with the clay that they use now. It’s not like the clay that they used to use a few years ago.

“It’s fast and slippery. It’s fast but you can’t really run on it. And when you take away running from me, then I’m in trouble. I can slide but I find playing on clay much harder than on a hard court. On hard courts you can just stop immediately and then run in the other direction. On clay it’s a different story.

“I grew up playing on clay and everything was fine. But then when I was on tour everything changed. I had to get used to playing on hard courts because that’s the surface for 90 per cent of the tournaments.”

The results in Radwanska’s two clay-court appearances so far this year have been modest (she has won two matches and lost two). Her best run in nine appearances at Roland Garros came in 2013, when she was beaten by Sara Errani in the quarter-finals. In the last two years she has made early exits at the hands of Alja Tomljanovic and Annika Beck, who were world No 72 and No 83 respectively.

In the last eight months, nevertheless, Radwanska has been in the best form of her life. She has won four titles in that time, including the biggest of her career at last year’s season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore, and has returned to her highest position in the world rankings at No 2.

It has been a remarkable turnaround since the middle of last summer, when the Pole was languishing at No 15 in the world rankings - her lowest position for eight years - after a barren spell in which she had not won a title for a year.

The 2012 Wimbledon runner-up was also concerned about her health. “I was tired, both mentally and physically,” she said. “I was doing all the possible tests to try to find out if something was not right. But I was just too tired. There wasn’t really anything wrong. I had just played too much.

“I guess it was good to have that as an experience. You learn most from your own mistakes. You’re not getting any younger, so every match costs you more than before. Things are different compared to when you are 20 years old.

“As you get older you really need to think about your schedule. You need to make sure that you’re going to be able to handle it and you’re not going to break down after three or four months. Because that actually is what happened to me. In practice I was OK. I played well in practice and nothing was wrong, but I just couldn’t do it during the matches.”

Radwanska, whose brief coaching relationship with Martina Navratilova never got off the ground, traces her problems back to the end of 2014, when she did not give herself enough of a break in the off-season. “I think I was doing too much and didn’t really relax,” she said. “That’s why I was so tired for a couple of months. Even on days when I wasn’t doing anything I just felt exhausted.”

She did not make the same mistake at the end of last year, after her season had finished in remarkable fashion. Radwanska was one of the last to qualify for the elite eight-player field at the WTA Finals in Singapore and won the title for the first time despite losing two of her three round-robin matches.

“I was done after six weeks in Asia, so I stayed in Poland during the off-season,” Radwanska said. “I had three weeks when I just did nothing. I was in Krakow and I also went into the Polish mountains. I wasn’t really travelling or flying anywhere.”

Lessons have been learned. “Even now after a good tournament I try to take a couple of days off,” she said. “That’s just the most important thing - not to do too much.”

Given that Radwanska has never won a Grand Slam title - the closest she came was when she lost to Serena Williams in the 2012 Wimbledon final - the victory in Singapore was the biggest of her career. Was she aware that Amelie Mauresmo was the last player to win the year-end finals (in 2005) having not previously won a Grand Slam title - and that the Frenchwoman went on to win two the following year?


 Radwanska finished as runner-up at Wimbledon in 2012 
 (Getty)

“Let’s focus on one first,” Radwanska said with a smile. “It’s going to be tough, but it’s possible. Of course I’ll try. But winning a Grand Slam title is the goal for everyone.”

Some observers see the women’s tournament here as the most unpredictable Grand Slam event for years, though Williams reinforced her position as the perennial favourite by winning her first title for nine months in Rome last weekend. Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza and Radwanska are among those whose names have been put forward as potential champions.

“Women’s tennis is changing,” Radwanska said. “A lot of girls have the opportunity now to win a Grand Slam or be top five in the rankings. Everything is possible for everyone. It’s a very different story to the men’s game, which is dominated by a couple of guys. There’s not much space there for anyone else. Here it’s different.”

Radwanska admits, nevertheless, that her best chance of winning her first Grand Slam title might be at Wimbledon. “I love grass,” the former All England Club junior champion said. “I got to the final at Wimbledon and I’ve played in a couple of semis there too.”

Might this be a year for both of the world No 2s to enjoy Wimbledon glory? Andy Murray, the men’s No 2, is another proven grass-court performer and would love to add to his 2013 Wimbledon title.

Murray says that Radwanska is the female player he most enjoys watching. There are similarities in their games, with the variety and intelligence of their shot-making among their greatest strengths.

“I like watching Andy as well,” Radwanska said. “He’s a great defender. What he does at the back of the court is just unbelievable. He’s a great returner. His return is the best and he can do anything on the court. He’s a player who thinks about everything he does.”