Aga capitalises on leaving Dad at home

 

Originally published on: 08/03/12 16:36

Agnieszka Radwanska says the improvement in her fortunes has coincided with a change in her coaching set-up. Since last year the 23-year-old Pole has stopped touring with her father, Robert, who had coached her for the last 17 years. She has been working instead with Tomasz Wiktorowski, Poland’s Fed Cup captain, and Borna Bikic, who used to coach Jelena Dokic.
 
Robert still works with his daughter when she returns home to Krakow, but the world No.5 revealed: “We had some arguments off the court. On the court we always had a good relationship and he’s a great coach. He really taught me everything and for sure without him I wouldn’t be here on the court, but sometimes it gets too much when you mix up your private life with tennis.
 
“Professional tennis is always a lot of stress and emotions and everything. So we decided that I would just practise with him at home and travel with someone else. That changed things a little bit. It’s been good.”
 
Radwanska has lost to only one player this year, Victoria Azarenka, who beat her in Sydney, Melbourne and Doha. In the last eight months the Pole has doubled her tally of tournament victories, winning titles in Carlsbad, Tokyo, Beijing and Dubai. In the process she has climbed to a career-high No.5 in the world rankings.
 
Nevertheless, Radwanska says her new coaches have not made any significant changes. “I think I’ve know Tomasz since I was 10,” she said. “He was actually traveling sometimes with my Dad as well, so he really knew how I was practising, what I’ve been doing and not doing. We’ve known each other for a long time, so the relationship is pretty easy. He knows what I like to do, how I like to practise. Borna is the new coach, but he watched me practise a lot at home, how we were doing. So it seems to work.”

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