Agnieszka Radwanska wrote one of the stand-out stories of 2012. She won 3 Premier titles, reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and was one match away from topping the ranking, while peaking at number 2. However, she eventually fell behind her biggest rivals, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, finishing the year at number 4.
Hoping to confirm again this season and to maybe grab that elusive Grand Slam, the older Radwanska started her preparation for the Australian Open early, entering the small tournament in Auckland. The move proved extremely inspired, as she run away with the title. The Pole cruised through the draw in emphatic way, never dropping a set against Greta Arn, Simona Halep, Elena Vesnina, Jamie Hampton, respectively Yanina Wickmayer in the final.
Last year, Sydney catapulted Azarenka into the spotlight, and she followed up her triumph there by winning her first Slam in Melbourne and becoming the world number 1. And while the Belorussian opted not to defend her crown, the Pole was eager to get as many matches under her belt as possible, so she made the trip Down Under where she was the number 1 seed. While Aga's great form showed during her quarterfinal clash with crafty Italian Roberta Vinci, who stunned her at the US Open last year, she was top notch in the semis against Chinese Na Li. Revenging some recent losses to both these players, Radwanska cruised to two easy victories, booking her place in the big finale.
The championship match with red-hot Dominika Cibulkova was expected to pose a tough challenge for the Pole. The Slovak has had a terrific route to the final, taking out former Wimbledon queen, Petra Kvitova, last year's Roland Garros runner-up, Sara Errani, as well as powerful German, second seeded Angelique Kerber. The encounter was nothing close to a battle though, Aga completely out-playing Cibulkova from the get-go. Relying on her percentage game, she raced to a 6-0,1-0 lead. At this stage, the Slovak was already crushed to pieces, as tears of despair and anger kept rolling down her face. Radwanska took full advantage of the situation, closing out the match 6-0,6-0. This was the first final since Quebec in 2006 that ended with a double bagel. Talking about her performance, she said: "Well, this is tennis and this is sport, and sometimes things like this happen. But of course I feel bad. It was a final and it's always supposed to be a tight, long match - but instead it was 60 60. She didn't deserve that score, definitely not."
On the other side, a miserable Cibulkova declared: "I would like to say there was an injury, but there wasn't - I was feeling fine. It was the first time something like that has happened to me. Actually I felt I could win every game I lost until 60 10. But when I lost that 1-0 game again in the second set, I just completely broke down and stopped thinking about what I had to do out there. I was just thinking, 'Oh my God, what is happening?'
With a 9-0 match record in 2013, Agnieszka established herself as a top contestant for the Australian Open crown.
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| Although she had a tremendous week in Sydney, taking out three top 10 players, i.e. Kvitova, Errani and Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova was reduced to tears by tenacious Radwanska who completely crushed her, winning the final 6-0,6-0, the first double-bagel in a WTA final since Quebec in 2006. |
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| Following a flawless display, the inspired Pole collected the twelfth career title in Sydney. |
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| Radwanska started 2013 strongly winning the title in Auckland without dropping a set. With a 9-0 match record under her belt, the Pole was not set her sights on the Australian Open title. |
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