Dubai: World number six Agnieszka Radwanska is thrilled with the prospect of continued improvement in women's tennis.
The 22-year-old Pole, who yesterday reached the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open with a 7-5, 6-4 triumph over Shahar Peer, is glad that the women's game isn't dominated by just two or three top stars — as evidenced by the last seven Grand Slams being won by seven different players.
"I think all the top 10 or the top 20 players are playing very well. Actually, this is not like in men's tennis that you have two or three players on top and the others are a little bit further behind," Radwanska said.
"In women's tennis everything changes and the scores are different every week. So I think all of the top players are on the same level. The top 20 players, everyone is capable of beating anyone."
Blazing season
Radwanska has had a blazing 2012 season so far, though her nemesis on the WTA Tour so far has been world number one Victoria Azarenka, against whom she has lost in all three tournaments she has played this year — the last instance coming in the quarter-finals at the Qatar Open in Doha last Thursday.
Prior to that, Radwanska lost to the Belarusian in the semi-finals in Sydney and then in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. And yet the Pole, who is making her fifth main draw appearance in Dubai, is pleased with the ways things have worked for her as she climbed to her career best No 6 in the world on January 30.
"I was really playing and having a couple of good matches, especially against top players. So far I'm happy about my performance as this is the first time I've been in the top six, so I'm good with that," she said.
She will also have been boosted by Azarenka's decision to pull out of Dubai yesterday because of an ankle injury she suffered yesterday.
