Tennis in Poland has a bright future

Poland's  tennis does not have a rich history. If we take a look at individual performances as well as team performances in both male and female competition, we will see a very limited number of successful tennis players. The proof for that statement lies in the fact, that it was not until the 2000’s when Polish tennis, both male and female started to improve and become competitive at ATP and WTA tournaments.

Due to poor results in the past, the Polish tennis players, both men and female, have the chance to form new records and set new milestones for this sport in Poland. It almost seems like there was no tennis in this land a few decades ago- For example, men’s competition is yet to have a Polish ATP tournament winner, while Radwanska achieved that feat in 2008 and became the first tennis player from Poland to win a major tournament. 

The progress of Agnieszka Radwanska must be mentioned as one of the most positive stories on WTA tour. To see that that the 25-year old managed to achieve several Masters tournament wins is amazing by itself. She also became the first Polish player to play in the finals of a Grand Slam, which she unfortunately lost to favorite Williams. With only 25 years of age, Radwanska can reach its peak in the near future and it will be interesting to see whether she is capable of achieving even bigger results.

FED Cup is still expecting some great results from female tennis players in Poland. FED Cup team’s best result came back in 1992, when the team Poland reached the quarterfinals of the cup. However, in recent years, a lack of quality players prevented the team from achieving better results.

Male tennis players have also started to emerge relatively late in the tennis history and are still waiting for their first ATP win. There are a few players that might be looking to represent Poland in the future but at the moment their reach is very minimum.

In 2013, Poland celebrated what is arguably the shiniest moment in Polish tennis history. Jerzy Janowicz played against his fellow player from Poland Lukazs Kubot, in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon tournament. Jerzy won the game but was eventually eliminated from the tournament in the semis, on the hands of late winner Andy Murray, Still, this counts as the rebirth of Polish tennis and a great boost for newer generations. Janowicz has yet to win a tournament but with the age of 23, it is only a matter of time. 

Other tennis player from Poland is Lukazs Kubot, who is also waiting for his first title on tour. However, he reached the stardom by winning the doubles at Australian Open, thus becoming the first Polish player to win a Grand Slam title, even at doubles. While Poland Davis cup team has just qualified for the World group, the result itself is a success and we will see the future results of the team. We have no reason not to believe that Polish tennis will improve in the future, especially because current stars are young forces.

While in the last century or so tennis was a primary sport for better-standing nations and West in general, in the recent years tennis has shown significant improvement on the other side of the European continent. Eastern European tennis associations have invested in the sport and now there are several players from this part of the world in the top 30 at the ATP rankings.

While Poland did not have much tennis players available for the annual completions and ATP and WTA tournaments, that started to change in the 2010’s when several male and especially female players emerged and hit the rankings, winning several tournaments in the process.

Agnieszka Radwanska is arguably the best Polish tennis player in recent history and is single-handedly keeping the Polish tennis above the surface and is representing the nation with much success. After she turned pro in 2005, Radwanska has participated on many tournaments and reached her highest ranking point in 2012, when she was second on the WTA list. This came after a tremendous season where she won some high-profile tournaments, including Miami, Dubai and Beijing Open. The confirmation of her class came in 2012 as well, when she became the first Polish player to reach a Grand Slam final, but eventually lost to Serena Williams 2-1 in sets. On the course of her career so far, Agnieszka won thirteen ATP titles in 19 finals.

Radwanska is actually the number one in many things when it comes to Polish tennis. Not only did she became the first tennis player from Poland to win a WTA title, but also the first that finished the season in top 10 and the first ever to reach 1$ million in prize-earnings.

Agnieszka Radwanska is the older of the Radwanska sisters, as the younger Urszula Radwanska is also a valuable member of the Polish tennis nation. Although not even remotely successful as her sister, Urszula reached her highest ranking when she was 28th in 2012 and is now going through some tough time and is on the brink of being out of top 100. Urszula has never won an ATP title and participated in only on final, losing to Petrova in Dutch Hertogenbosch tournament.