Exclusive: 'Fire in her eyes' - Agnieszka Radwanska on Simona Halep playing 'aggressive tennis' at Wimbledon

ByDan Quarrell

Published 05/07/2022 at 15:38 GMT

"I saw her matches this year here," Agnieszka Radwanska said of Simona Halep in an interview with Eurosport at Wimbledon as the Romanian eyes her second singles title at the famous event. "She looks very good - [there is a] fire in her eyes. She is really trying to play more aggressive tennis and is serving pretty well, so I think she can do it [win the title] this year."

Agnieszka Radwanska has told Eurosport about the "more aggressive tennis" being employed to good effect by Simona Halep in making a charge at Wimbledon.

Halep, the 2019 champion at the All England Club, booked her place in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with a straight-sets victory over Paula Badosa. She will next take on 20th seed Amanda Anisimova in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

It marked her first victory on grass over a top-five player as she reached the quarter-final stages, and she is now widely regarded as the favourite to win the tournament outright.

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Radwanska told Eurosport about the changes she has spotted already in the Romanian's game that are proving to be so dangerous for her opponents at SW19.

"I saw her matches this year here," Radwanska said of Halep. "She looks very good - [there is a] fire in her eyes.

"She is really trying to play more aggressive tennis and is serving pretty well, so I think she can do it [win the title] this year.

"I think Simona can also play good tennis on the grass. She is also more experienced at that level, so I still think [Halep] can win the whole thing.

Speaking about the top of the women's game in the wake of Ash Barty's shock retirement earlier in the year, Radwanska explained some of the unpredictability.

"I think the top 10 is pretty open," she said. "I think there are a lot of players playing at the same level.

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Simona Halep

Image credit: Getty Images

"I think Iga Swiatek and Ash Barty, before she retired, are the only two players that are playing very consistently, very powerfully. Those two - that would be like [Novak] Djokovic and [Rafael] Nadal at the moment in men’s tennis.

"Ash, unfortunately, she has gone, so it is only Iga, and I think except Iga, everyone has the same chance. The level is very cool and that is why you can see a lot of different names, even different names not from the top 30 in the second week of a Grand Slam.

"I think those kinds of years… everything is going to change. A lot of older players retired and now it is an open space. So I think we will wait for the new generation coming in [and there will be a] time when we’re all going to see the same names, like before, in the top 10."

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As for Halep herself, she told Eurosport that she believes she is moving to a new level in her career after a few frustrating years.

"I’m older and I see things differently," she said. "I’m really enjoying the time on court. I enjoy working, which is not easy, and I'm happy to be back here healthy and fit to play.

"I think footwork is really important on grass. If you feel stable you can do many things. It’s not easy because it’s dangerous every time you have a ball very far from your body.

"I feel strong on my legs. I’m working to get the ball a little bit faster, to get closer to the ball and be more aggressive. So I’m doing that, and I’m actually trying to do it better.

"Every day we focus on myself and what I have to do. It’s not about the opponent that much - it’s about myself doing what we discussed. It doesn't matter if the result is negative or positive.

"It’s important to build my game and to improve because I need a little bit of time to settle everything inside myself and to be able to display the game that I want."

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Watch daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm on Eurosport 2 and discovery+ from June 27, as well as the two singles finals live on July 9 and 10.

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